


Alone Together

by Scraxivele



Series: Modern Faerie Tales [1]
Category: The Darkest Part of the Forest - Holly Black, The Folk of the Air - Holly Black, Tithe Series - Holly Black
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Blood and Gore, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Magic, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Road Trips, Romance, Strong Female Characters, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:47:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 52,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22368937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scraxivele/pseuds/Scraxivele
Summary: How do you continue to act as a human once you discover that you haven't been one all along? The easiest answer is, of course, that you don't.
Relationships: Hazel Evans/Ruth, Kaye Fierch/Rath Roiben Rye, OC Thorn/ OC Nikki, Ravus/Valerie "Val" Russell
Series: Modern Faerie Tales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610254
Comments: 39
Kudos: 17





	1. Prologue

I don't know where you're going,

But do you got room for one more troubled soul

I don't know where I'm going,

But I don't think I'm coming home

And I said I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead

This is the road to ruin and we're starting at the end

-Fall Out Boy, Alone Together

Prologue

These moonlit nights were her absolute favorite. The way the silver light streamed in through the front room's massive floor to ceiling windows, the way it shone off of the river across the street and the way it gleamed off of her pale blue skin made her feel as though she was glowing. Like all of her problems would melt away. It wasn't like sunlight. The moonlight didn't bring warmth to her skin like the sun did and she preferred it that way. At least...she had until tonight. There was no more reason for her skin to be cold after this. His skin had always been hot to the touch and it balanced her out perfectly. Likewise, he'd always mellowed her out and kept her tethered to the earth. He was grounded in reality. 

Well, mostly. He could pass for human at least. She, on the other hand, could not. 

Not without magic anyway. The city had all but drained her over the past two years and she could hardly glamour away the blue of her skin or the bright pink of her eyes. After spending so much time in Ironside she had decided to stop glamouring away her pink hair at least and people were surprisingly accepting of it. They just figured it was dyed that way. Her pointed ears had been showing more and more lately too. It was just time. She couldn't live this life anymore. She knew deep down what it might do to the boy when he woke and she wasn't there but if she stayed she didn't know how long it would be until she withered away. Some Faeries can handle the poisons of Ironside much more gracefully than others could. She was definitely in the latter category. She knew Faeries that had lived in Ironside for years, some even decades at a time. Enduring the corrosive air that stripped the lining off the inside of their lungs for something as simple as love. Some had no choice, of course, being banished or disgraced by courts but others did it for the sheer necessity of staying by the mortals that they craved the attention of. 

It hurt all the same though. She'd sung him to sleep, a simple charm she often used to calm his heart and mind so he could sleep more soundly at night. She'd come to expect his nightmares shortly after she'd moved in with him and found the easiest way to keep them from happening or to at least quell them after they'd already begun. That was perhaps the thing that had held her in place for so long. The fact that she didn't know if he'd be able to sleep at night if she wasn't there. She'd tried to convince herself that he would find another person to help him with this little problem. She'd even suggested months ago that he try going to therapy. Apparently, humans had that available to them. 

But even without it, he could just make a deal with his friends. He made deals with Faeries all the time so surely he'd find a solution to that problem once she was gone. She stood in the entryway of the foyer admiring the moon for a few more moments before she stepped toward the door. The old victorian bunkhouse had been good for them for the most part, but she still had to wrap the fabric of her shirt around her hand to turn the old iron door handles. As she stepped into the cool air of the fall night she took a deep breath. This was it. She was out of the house. 

She'd been thinking about this night for months now. Planning every little detail. She'd walk out behind there street and into the woods and just keep walking. Without this to hold her in place she really didn't have anywhere she belonged. Sure, she had friends in New York, but after this betrayal, they wouldn't want to see her. They were better friends with him than they were with her after all was said and done. She hadn't packed anything either. Not for lack of stealth but she didn't actually need anything from their apartment. Everything she had there was human comforts that Faeries didn't require. She'd lived a long time without them and she could go back to life without them quite easily she figured. As she walked down the old stone steps and out onto the sidewalk she turned back to look up at the massive house. Her eyes settled on the window of the top floor and for a moment she felt as though she couldn't go. 

Her feet felt so heavy. Like they were glued to the concrete below her feet. Could she really do this? She hadn't had the heart to break his in person but making him wake up alone only to realize that she wasn't just out for a walk? That she was never coming home. Surely it was easier for her but he would be devastated. He loved her. He'd never done a single thing wrong and she knew there would be regrets. 

But he could make some other girl happy...and that girl could make him happy in return. It just couldn't be her. Not anymore. 

She turned back to the street and began to walk down the road until she came to the next street and turned up the hill. Two more streets back from the apartment and she was at the tree line. She could see the entire town from here. The river, the shopping center beyond it, the card shop that they frequented for comics and magic nights. All the bars they'd come to know the staff of and every take out joint they'd taken advantage of. 

Most of all though, her eyes rested on the crest of the apartment building one more time before she turned to the trees and took a deep breath. 

"Goodbye."


	2. Chapter One

"I am the Great Pretender, Willing to Dream Forever"

Oh, I'll just float away, and let the waves keep pulling me in,

I'll just hang out here and watch the world pass over my head,

Because, I still believe in, all of the things you said.

-Jon Frederik Band, The Great Pretender

Chapter One

The wind whipped her long blonde locks around her face as she pocketed the pack of blunt wraps she had lifted from the counter. Her breath was calm yet visible in the cold fall air and she couldn't help but watch as it spiraled into waves of nothing as she left each breath behind her, headed for the closest patch of trees to slip into the woods. Her heeled boots kicked through the leaves and pine needles and crunched over the frosted brown grass of the forest floor as she slowed to a walking pace. Out of sight from anyone who could have possibly seen her quick shoplifting job, no chance of being followed in the maze of trees that nearly no one around the entire state could navigate, save for her. It had become a necessity in high-school when she wanted to get home from school faster, or to do as she was now and escape with her gas station loot. 

Her vision fell to her hand as it fished her cell phone out of its pocket and unlocked it to check for any developments that needed her attention. The pointed heels of her short black boots sunk into the ground ever so slightly, skewering leaves as she continued on and scrolled through her phone for a moment before she decided she hadn't missed anything. She briefly glanced at the time before she stuffed the device back into the pocket of her dark gray Pea-coat and rolled her icy blue eyes. 

“Only Eleven,” Nikki sighed in disbelief. Her words clouded up the air in front of her face as she placed a hand on a large log and quickly vaulted over it. As she returned to her walking pace she shivered as she held up her hand to look at it, the cold having taken a serious toll on the pair as she wore no gloves, nor a hat. The warmth of the gas station had left her quite quickly and the metal hoops in her ears only served to more quickly freeze the cartilage which they were looped in to. "Ouch!," she moped, cursing herself under her breath. She had walked into a low hanging branch, not a thick one but still certainly an annoyance. She rubbed her hand across her cheek where I had scratched her but thankfully found no blood. 

"Why do I even wear heels," she pondered aloud and fought slightly to get one of them out of the ground where it had sunk in a little too far to simply keep walking. It was true that they were a bit unnecessary with how tall she already was. She was thankful that at least most of the boys her age had caught up with her by the end of high-school but she was still freakishly tall for a girl. One thing she was thankful for was her shape though, serving to keep her weight down at least a little bit. Her bust was just right in her mind, not too big and not too small. Her butt, on the other hand, 'huhhh,' she sighed to herself and looked down briefly to catch a glimpse of her hips swinging with her steps, the tight leggings clinging to her curves for dear life. 

Her thighs and butt were far too big for her own liking, though she had never heard anybody else complain about it. No, the girls were all jealous and the guys were all googly-eyed when she walked by every day in school. At least once she'd graduated she had seen fewer and fewer people gradually on the regular, to the point where every face she saw outside of the house was a pure stranger. It helped when they had moved to be sure. 

Connecticut was just such an endless void of old or stoned people that she had never felt obligated to actually get to know anyone around. Jersey had been different. Sometimes she thought that she missed it but the more and more of the forest that she had explored around town, the more she had grown to like her new environment. She knew every shortcut between the different parts of town by this point. Where every set of railroad tracks led and where every quiet place to think was. What would she do if she had friends anyway? Every form of entertainment had closed down over the last two years. No more bowling alleys, no more public skating rinks. She had considered taking up darts in a local bar but that had only made her realize that she would need to play against somebody instead of alone. 

She was only a few minutes from the Mass and Rhode Island borders of course but she had no car to get her there and again, what exactly would be the point? "Hmm?" She hummed as she began to hear an engine in the distance. Much louder than any normal car, she thought to herself as she stopped and looked around her. She had gotten lost in her thoughts again, she realized, before silently scolding herself. Off the beaten path, as it were. She couldn't have strayed too far but the only way to find out where she was was to follow the sound. It was moving, that much she was sure of, but it wasn't moving very far. It would get a little quieter for a few moments but only come back at the same volume it had started at. She finally pushed her way past the last branches and found herself in a large, open grassy area. 

The grass, however, was much too green for the last week of October and was quite obviously cut at different heights and in different patterns. She could swear in the distance she could now hear a race car, pounding its way around a track and screaming to itself. That was enough of a hint for her to realize where she had accidentally ended up. 'Golf course,' she thought as she sighed. "Welp," she let out softly as she strode out into the rough of one of the holes, toward the other engine noise that had first drawn her here. "Only one way back now," she sighed as she resigned herself to the weird looks she was more than likely to receive, walking alone on a golf course in the middle of the morning. 

There was the source of the noise too, a large lumbering machine still out cutting the grass this late in the year. She silently wondered what exactly the boy driving the machine could even possibly be cutting at this time of the year but she figured in the end that he was just doing what he was told. As she found herself struggling to make him out in the distance she realized that he was headed her way. Well, generally in her direction was more like it. It was obvious to her that she had been spotted, and while he was technically coming closer to her she could see that the reels on his machine were still down, and he was in fact, barely cutting any grass whatsoever. 

She was shocked to find out though that he was barely bundled up at all, though he did not look nearly as cold as she felt. She tucked her Platinum locks behind her ears to try and shoo them from her face and studied the boy harder. She quickly realized that there was no one out playing anywhere that she could see. "It is only forty out here after all," she shrugged as she studied his features. The first thing she saw about him was the bright green of his hoodie and the Whale fin designed in blue and white across his chest. She thought she had seen it before but she couldn't place where. As he came closer she noticed his hair first, shocking her a little as she realized how much Grey there was in it. She figured it must have been black or brown before because it was mixed in a rainbow of dark Grey to even a few pure white strands mixed in here and there. 

His eyes were squinted and hard, more than likely due to the cold breeze constantly hitting him from driving the mower back and forth all morning. To be sure it seemed to be the only part of him affected by the cold. The rest of him was completely relaxed. He had a headset on, the cord feeding into the pouch in his hoodie. Though as he got closer he pushed the headset back and she watched as it slid down the back of his head and came to rest on his shoulders. His hair was short and styled up and to his right and she figured that the deep brown of his eyes probably matched the color his hair used to be. As he got closer though she could see that his beard and mustache, which continued all the way to link up at the base of his ears with the hair atop his head, didn't match. It was mostly brown but seemed to be specked with reds and oranges throughout. 

Her breath hitched in her throat as she stopped walking and her mind began to race, trying to come up with what to say as he finished the strip he was cutting, lifted the reels and began driving the short distance between them. As the machine came to a slow halt in front of her she exhaled as she watched his eyes traveling up and down her entire body several times as he leaned back in his seat up against the grate behind him. She stood there for several moments but it felt like an hour with the way his eyes bored into her. The way he was so casually studying her with his engine revved up seemed to be almost by accident as after a few moments, he finally reached out and throttled the engine down, the high rumble of the engine slowing to a dull and slow grumble before he turned the key and suddenly the noise was over. As It stopped, it was replaced with the dull voice of a woman speaking through his headphones. She couldn't quite make any of the words out but it sounded as if he was listening to a book rather than music. 

They were both silent for several seconds before he finally spoke up, "You alright?" he asked as he finally leaned forward and sat up, resting his elbows on his jeans, the green sleeves of the hoodie clashing with the dull beige of his utterly disgusting khaki pants. What was the point of having a dress code if you could get away with wearing khakis with mud stains halfway up your legs and frayed ends? Underneath them, she could see that he was wearing a far too casual pair of skateboarding shoes for the work he was doing, especially in the cold. 

“Isn't it a little cold for that?” She asked quietly, disregarding his question as she nodded her chin toward him. “You're not even cutting anything,” she said flatly.

“Hmp,” he smirked, his crooked smile sending sparks down her spine. “Hey I don't make the rules,” he shrugged as he sat back in his seat and looked down to her hands. “Aren't you cold?” he asked as he gestured to her hands and ears, “Not the best time to be out for a walk.”

"No I suppose it isn't..." she admitted, not being able to dodge that question. She was freezing and it had become nearly unbearable. Especially now that she knew she was much farther from home than she had wanted to be. "I was walking home and lost my way in the woods. Wasn't paying attention." 

“Oh ya? You live on the other side of town then?”

“Yeah,” she let out with a small smile. She hadn't meant to say that but something about this boy wasn't putting her off for once. 

"Same," he sighed as he pulled a water bottle out of the cup holder of his mower and jammed his fingers down the holder. 'Not much of a cup holder,' she thought to herself when she realized that it was just a hole in what boiled down to be a sheet metal box. It appeared to be on hinges and when his fingers went into the hole it began to jangle around and he lifted to reveal that the small compartment was actually a sort of glove box. She was just as surprised when he produced a pair of gloves and a Grey beanie from within and held them out toward her. 

“Don't you need them?” She asked with genuine shock in her voice. 

“I don't get cold this easy,” he smiled again before she took them from him. “It was colder this morning when I started cutting but it's warmed up a lot since then. 

“It's still this morning,” she pointed out in a smart ass way as she pulled the gloves on and then tucked her ears into the hat. “When did you start?”

"Seven. It's pretty late in the season, only a few weeks left. And to answer your question, yes I am cutting literally nothing, just laying the grass down basically so it holds that pattern." He studied her again for a moment before continuing. "This is actually my last fairway and I'll be done for the day. Boss went off to a doctor's appointment and even the members aren't crazy enough to play with the storm coming in a few hours. You want a ride home when I'm done?" 

'What?' She thought in disbelief. Why on earth would he offer that? What was he seeing here that she wasn't? “You've...already done plenty,” she said waving her hands out in front of her. “I don't wanna inconvenience you more.”

"It ain't really an inconvenience, I live over there too," he answered as he tapped the box closed and then tapped his hand against a bare section of the bodywork where none of the switches or dials were. A spot just big enough, she figured, for her ass to fit. She couldn't help but feel the blush spread across her cheeks and watched as he turned the key on the machine to the second position and she saw a red light appear under the steering wheel. 

"You sure?" She asked as she walked the short distance between them and rested her hand on the pole that ran from the footwell to the roof of the machine. "Won't I be in your way?" 

“Nah the controls are on the other side,” he smiled as he leaned over to let her climb up and sit down on the body panel he had suggested and she felt some of the cold melt away from her right away. 

"Hooo wowwww," she thought out loud as she leaned into the back wall of the open cab and felt the heat from the engine. "This thing is so warm. No wonder you aren't cold," she added as she pressed her hands against the bodywork to help them warm up faster. 

"Ya," he smiled softly before pausing as if lost in thought for a moment, "That it is." 

“What Book are you listening to?” she asked as she began to hear some of the words more clearly.

"Oh, it's just a fantasy novel," he sighed as he takes the headphones off from around his neck and hands them to her and unplugs the cord from his phone. 

"A Faerie tale?" she raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't seem the type," she chuckled out. "What are these for?" She asked as she accepted the headset. 

"For if you got music on your phone. I've only got a few strips left but this thing is hella loud and besides, it'll keep your ears warmer." After the words had left his mouth however she didn't even have time to hear herself think out an appropriate response before she saw his hand move back to the key and turn, the machine roaring to life in a deafening chorus of noises that did not hit her ears in a kind way. "Hang on, by the way, this thing's pretty jerky," she barely heard him shout almost directly into her ear. 

As quickly as she could she put the headset on over his hat and plugged the cord into her phone and began listening to the first thing that she could to drown the noise out. Even at a volume that was almost uncomfortable to hear she could still make out the dull roar of the engine as the mower lumbered back to where he had left off and she watched as he held a lever forward and all seven reels dropped to the ground and began to cut almost nothing as they had been before. 

She couldn't help but keep her eyes on him. Even as she swayed back and forth and they went over mild bumps in the fairway, which translated into huge jerking bounces that strained her back. He didn't look back at her nearly the entire twenty minutes it took for him to finish the hole. Far too busy making sure his lines of mildly cut grass were straight to notice the way that she was looking at him. She had seen beautiful people but this boy was not beautiful. His features were fierce. Jagged in all the right places that she liked, not that she knew very well what it was that she liked. 

She hadn't dated much, but she had ended up in bed with people more often than she could admit to herself, and most of them didn't have a feature in common. Not even that they were male, because nearly half of them weren't. She hadn't ever been in love with her partners though and more often than not she had in fact never seen them again after the morning. After a while she was broken from her thoughts as she realized that they were back on the beat-up tarmac cart path, heading down the rolling hills and back toward the road. 

She wasn't exactly sitting 'Next' to him. If she were to lean back she would find herself laying across his lap rather than against the back of the cab. The 'box' which held his water bottle was on her left side and she could now see how truly grimy and disgusting it was. She could see through the small gap between the plastic bottle and the metal rim of the hole several cigarette butts and dirty rags within the box. She couldn't smell any smoke on him though and she forced herself to figure that more than one employee must use this machine. “All done?” she half shouted toward her new companion, turning back around to look out over the horizon rather than backward at him.

“Yeah. Headed back to the garage to clean this thing off and then we can get going,” he replied as softly as possible, clearly trying to keep from yelling at her. 

“How long does that take?”

“Eh,” he shrugged, “Like fifteen minutes. I'll give you the keys and you can go warm up my car while you wait if you want.”

"Jeez man," she smirked, looking back over her shoulder as they came through a small tree grotto and the garage came into view. As he stopped on the wash pad she hopped down, taking a few ginger steps and spun on her toes back to face him, watching him slowly climb out of his chair and climb down to the ground. She clasped her hands behind her back, playing innocent as she smiled a wicked grin and narrowed her eyes. As the machine slowly wound down and finally shut off she finished her sentiment, "Anyone ever tell you that you're too trusting?" 

As he stood up straight and ran his hand through his short hair with a smile she felt a wave of relief rush over her as her cheeks turned red in the crisp fall air. 'Taller than I am,' she couldn't help but let her smile soften. 

"Hah, more often than I'm proud of yeah," he laughed out. He fished his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to her quickly before stepping around the machine and toward the power washer, uncoiled it from its spool on the outer wall of the garage and flipped a switch as she heard the dull sound of water begin running behind the wall. "Can you even drive?" 

“I could figure it out if I had too,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. 'Guess he can tell I'm younger than he is as well,' she smiled as she turned away from him and began to walk away but stopped as she rounded the corner of the building. There were two cars still in the lot. As she turned back to him she saw him looking in her direction. She couldn't help but blush again as she thought of the feeling of him studying her. “Which one?”

"Guess Rob is still here," he replied with a surprised expression. "Blue one," he answered before he pulled the trigger on the power washer and water began to jet out of it and into the grass filled reels. As she made it to the car she couldn't help but observe the few dings and dents scattered across its surface. Not only that, but 'blue' was a strong word. It was sky blue, for the most part anyway, at least a decade old she figured but she never really could tell the age of cars. Especially around this area where very few people were willing to spend the money to buy a truly new car. 

No, everyone in the entire area drove whatever they could get their hands-on, and they drove it straight into the ground until the metal beasts would refuse to move another inch unless it was on a flatbed to the scrap yard. 'No rot holes though.' she thought to herself as she traced the Hyundai badge on the trunk. It was truly tiny. Not Smart Car tiny of course but still, entirely too small to think that a six-foot two man would drive it regularly. As she stuck the key into the passenger side door and turned she made another mental note about the boy. "Doesn't lock his car either huh?" she raised an eyebrow as she tugged the door handle and pulled the door open, slipping awkwardly down into the small space that she didn't even feel she fit into properly. 

As she slumped into the seat and looked around she mentally began to take down more notes about her strangely generous stranger. The back seat footwell was littered with sand and grass clippings and a pair of well used Carhartt boots lay unorganized by the door. She slipped the key into the ignition and turned, the car surprisingly taking no issue with being started up in the mild cold of late October. She cranked the air setting all the way up before shivering and turning it back down. “God why can't they just be hot right away,” she sighed as she rubbed her arms through her jacket and went back to peeking around the car. 

There was another of his hoodies in the back seat, and more than one empty coffee cup and several food wrappers around the car as well. Luckily she couldn't smell any of them over the strong scent of fall that had come in with her. The engine was loud too, much too loud for such a small car. Out of everything though she was happy to find that there was indeed one piece of the car that was new and pristine. The only part of a car that could matter in her eyes. She followed the sky blue charging cable up it's length to the radio where it plugged in by USB and watched as the screen on the aftermarket radio blinked with electric blue and pink lights, flashing 'No Device,' over and over again. She fished her phone out of pocket and jammed the cable into the port and watched as the radio flashed the name of her device and she opened the music app. She scrolled through her collection and picked the first thing that caught her eye. 

"Kid's got his priorities straight at least," she chuckled softly as she curled up in the set, her heels hooked on the edge of the seat as she wrapped her arms around her knees. 'What am I doing here,' the thought crept back into her head as she leaned back into the chair, her head pressed into the headrest. 'Why am I in some weird dude's car who I just met... and why doesn't it bother me.' She frowned at her thoughts, burying her face back into her arms and knees, careful to keep from pressing too hard and smearing her make up. Before she even realized it though she heard the mower roar back to life around the corner and she looked back to the dials in the dashboard, seeing that several minutes had passed and the engine had warmed up enough to crank the heat. 

She turned the heat up and watched as he parked the mower in the garage and hopped down, pulling his headphones from his neck again and wrapped the cord around them before he disappeared further inside. He was only out of sight for a moment before he returned to the doorway and strolled back out into the cold. "Probably had to punch out," she thought aloud as she watched him round the car and open his door. She was quick to rip the cord from her phone and offer it to him as he sat down. He stashed the headset in the back seat and took the cord from her with a thank you and jammed it into his phone. 

“So,” he started, as he pulled his seat belt on and began pressing icons on his phone, navigating to the music he desired and let it play quietly in the background. “You always lived around here? You don't sound like someone who grew up in the area.”

“Hm,” she smirked, “That obvious?”

"Haha," he smiled as he moved the shifter into drive and began out of the parking lot toward home. "You hide the accent pretty well but its there." 

"Jersey," she let out softly. "I only moved here after high school. What about you? You lived in this town your whole life?" 

"No but I've lived in this corner of Connecticut forever," he sighed. "Pretty boring ass place to choose to move too huh?" 

“I wasn't gonna say anything but yes,” she shot back at him and looked out the window. “There's nothing here but old people and crumbling buildings. Which towns?”

“Woodstock and Putnam for the last four. Just moved into a new apartment down here to be closer to work two weeks ago.”

"That seems a bit excessive?" She said inquisitively. "Putnam is right down the road, that can't be the only reason you moved." He was silent for a long moment while she watched his face contort into a thoughtful expression. She tapped on the armrest with her fingers in time with the dull music pumping through the car with one hand and twisted a few strands of her hair in the other. 

"There were other reasons too as you have so easily noticed," he finally said softly as he leaned back his chair, trying to relax as he took a turn around a hill beside the road that she easily recognized. One hand on the wheel and another rested on his armrest on the door, propping his head upon his fist. "Bad end to a bad relationship," he glanced over to her. "Usual reason for someone my age to be moving suddenly." 

"Your age?" She giggled. "You sound like you think you're already old," she continued with a snort. "How old can you possibly be?" 

"Hm," he smiled with a wicked flash of a grin, "Go on, have a guess." 

“Well, older than me I figure,” she rolled her eyes. “Not by too much though,” she squinted at him. 

“And how old would that be?” He asked with a smirk. He looked to her and she saw him shift his weight in his chair and there, in the door handle her eyes landed on a small grey and white stuffed creature that she couldn't help but recognize right away. He was tucked into the handle of the door, felt spilling out slightly over the edge of the handle. 

“Is that Totoro?” She dodged as she nodded with a smile past him and toward the door. 

"Hah, ya it is," he glanced back down to the doll before returning his attention to the road. "Found him in a parking lot after a movie one night and threw him in the wash and he's probably been in my door for almost four years now." 

“Hm,” she smiled as her cold blue eyes studied the small fluffy blob. “Driving buddy,” she murmured as she bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes rising back up to his face. 

As the buildings and trees slid by the car she saw him faintly nod his head toward a street behind her as they went around a long sweeping corner. “I'm back there,” prompting her to turn slightly and look back through the rear windscreen to the road, sliding away from them as he continued around the turn. 

“I've been back there,” she replied quietly. “Right near the tracks,” she added as they passed right above the railroad, only a few hundred feet from the road he had indicated.

“Oh yeah?”

“I've been most places around here,” she admitted, curling up in her seat and leaning her back against her window. 

“More woods strolls?” he raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. Really useful when you haven't got a car. The woods go everywhere around here." 

“I know what you mean,” his expression softened. “Sometimes they go a few too many places...”

She was silent for a long while as she looked at him, trying to read more into that comment but she could sense that he didn't actually have much more to add to it. “Twenty-One,” she finally let out with a sigh and she could see him smirk that wicked sly smile. She couldn't be sure if it was a bump in the road or if she was just imagining it but she could swear that she had actually seen his right ear twitch at her words. 

“Twenty-Five,” he finally said in return, looking at her for only a moment through the corner of his eye. 

“I'm only another half mile down the road,” she said after a moment. “Why did you give me a ride anyway?”

He was silent for a little while before finally coming up with an answer. “Why not right?” He shrugged. “Cute girl comes out of the woods while no one is around, says she went the wrong way and I'm about to leave work. Why wouldn't I?”

“Didn't anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers?” she laughed out. His answer had been much better than she could have ever guessed. Her mind betrayed her though and she began to linger on his words more carefully. 'Cute girl huh?' she thought to herself with a smirk. 

“Hah yeah of course they did,” he laughed in return. “Do you wish I had let you walk home then?”

"No," she replied a little too quickly. "No not at all...next house on the right is me," she finally let out. As the car came to a slow stop on the side of the road in front of her house she watched the ground cease sliding past them before she put her hand in the door handle and pulled, the door cracking open an inch before she looked back to him. "Thank you," she said, surprised at how shy her voice sounded. Her voice hadn't sounded so shaky in years. She sounded like a surprised child. 

"No problem," he smiled back before she opened her door and the cold wind hit her face, cooling down any beginnings of feelings that the shyness had been digging up in her. "You're right you know?" 

“Right?” she asked as she spun around to face him, standing on the sidewalk. “About what?”

“I'm not the type,” he smiled back, pointing to his headset on the back seat. 

Her face felt hot as the cold wind continued to whip her hair around her face. She lifted one hand to hold the strands out of her face, her frozen iris' flicking back to his face from the headset. "What's your name?" She mindlessly asked. It was only after asking that she realized the question had been sitting on her tongue for nearly an hour. It had been eating away at her for so long that she had gotten used to the feeling of it resting in her mind. She began to wonder if the same could be said for him. 

"Thorn," he said softly as he leaned down to look up at her face past the low ceiling of his car. "You?" 

'Thorn? What the hell kind of name is that for a Twenty-Five-year-old guy?' "Nicole," she answered with a mild curtsy, fraying out the ends of her long coat. "See you around ya?" 

"Sure," he smiled before she gingerly closed the door and she heard the car shift back into drive and saw him look both ways down the road before pulling across the lanes in the opposite direction, headed back toward his apartment. 

"I sure hope so anyway,” she muttered before turning to face the house.


	3. Chapter Two

Operator, take me home.

I don't know where else to go.

I wanna die in the suburbs.

A heart attack shoveling snow all alone.

If I die, I wanna die in the suburbs.

The Wonder Years, We Could Die like this

  
Chapter Two

The house was quiet. Far too quiet for this time of day. No tress blew in the wind, no cars passed out on the street and the air felt thick all around her as she walked slowly up the few steps to the front door and jammed her key into the slot. She could see that all of the lights were off, but her parent's cars, as they should have been, were in the driveway right where she had left them only a few hours before. 

Neither of them worked on Sundays and they did all their shopping on Saturday so there was never any reason for them to leave the house. It was already noon though, there was no way that they could both possibly still be in bed. As she turned the knob of the door and stepped inside her hand absently ran to the wall immediately inside as the door closed behind her, searching for the light switch. "Mom?" she asked as she squinted through the darkness, seeing only small sections of the open floor plan. 

The light came in through the edges of the curtains which, for some reason, were still extended at this hour. The light illuminated every dust particle in its path, shining beams of light on different areas of the living room and kitchen and her eyes flicked across each of them, searching for any indication that someone was awake. As her fingers ran along the wall they finally hit the transition from plaster to plastic as she found the plate that surrounded the light switch. Before she could flick it on however she felt a hand slap over her mouth, and another grabbed her extended hand, wrenched it behind her back and held it in place.

She tried to scream but all that came out was a muffled moan through the meat of the stranger's hand, it's rough skin irritating her lips. Her bright blue eyes went wide as she saw a shadow begin to move I the corner of the room, the silhouette of an incredibly large man coming toward her with his hands clutched around a stretch of cloth. He reached out and tied the strip of fabric around her head, blinding her. Awful thoughts began to race through her mind and she swung out her free hand to try and rip the cloth away from her face, but soon found that arm too redirected behind her own back, until only a single giant hand was holding both of her wrists together. The grip of the stranger began to cut off the blood flow from her hands and she felt pins and needles flicker through them as the moment passed.

She continued to try and scream, her breath becoming hoarse quickly as she struggled to breathe through her nose. In the midst of thrashing, she felt one of her captors reach down into the pocket of her coat and pull out her cell phone before she heard it clunk to the ground with a dull thud. It was swiftly followed by the sound of crushing plastic-glass as she presumed one of them had crushed it below their foot. Her hair fell in a mess in front of her face as she thrashed around and one of the men finally pushed her forward. She tried to curl up a little but her hands weren't fast enough to keep her forehead from hitting the carpeted floor. As soon as she had fallen the large hands were on her wrists again, another pair tying them together with more of the rags followed swiftly by her ankles. 

"Who are you," she stammered out nervously, her voice returning to the shy tone that it had had only a few minutes earlier with Thorn. "What do you wa-" She was cut off by the hand returning to her mouth. Though this time it was not alone. Her eyes clamped shut beneath the blindfold as she tried to spit the substance out but with the hand in the way she was getting nowhere. It tasted like grass and dirt and no matter how long it lingered in her mouth it never became less offensive to her senses. She could smell it too, raw and dry grass grinding between her teeth as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. A knife had been pressed to her skin and she began to try and slow her breathing, resigning herself to being captured. Maybe if she were to simply cooperate she wouldn't die like this. She had wriggled her way out of bad situations before but nothing like this. 

"She's not changing," she heard a male's voice. "If you scream again you die," she heard the words rock against her ears before she silently nodded. As the man's hand left her mouth it moved to her arms, yanking her off the floor effortlessly and dragging her across the room. It took real work to stifle the cries of pain that gurgled up her throat as she spat the grass from her mouth quietly. After a few long moments of her legs dragging against the tile floor, they came to a stop and she felt his fingers playing with the blindfold before he slid it down her face and into her mouth. She could now see her reflection in the bathroom mirror, see just how panicked she looked. She hadn't realized that she had begun to cry, and her hair was in tangled bunches, some stuck to her wet cheeks. Her eyes flicked down to the man's hand which was coming back up toward her, a stone in his palm. His hand was positively green. Mossy, dark and completely green. She thought it may be a trick of the light at first, or rather the lack of light, but as it came closer the reality began to set in. He grabbed the back of her head and forced her to look back at herself in the mirror rather than at him. 

The room was still decently dark but some light from the window allowed her to see that the man, if you could call him that, was far larger than her, seeming to be proportionate to his massive hands. He was over a foot taller than her, she figured, and he had bright golden eyes and a dull green tinge to his skin. His hair was as black as an oil slick and hung down over his face, unkempt. As the stone was lifted in front of her face however she was forced to shoo away her confusion as he jerked her head forward again toward the glass as if punishing her for looking at him. She instead began to stare back at her own cold blue eyes through a hole that had been chiseled through the small rock. After a moment she saw that what she had been forced to chew on wasn't in fact grass, but clovers. One of them still sat smashed against her cheek. It was a perfect four-leaf clover, a splash of fresh bright green against the pale white of her skin. 

Before long she began to feel dizzy while she stared into her reflection in the mirror. Her adrenaline was so high that she figured she just wasn't able to focus. She could smell everything in the entire house now, rather than just what was left of the clovers in her mouth and on her lips under the gag. She could smell all the mold on the old bathroom tiles, the flowers on the window sill in the kitchen and there was something else. She could smell the man behind her and in her kitchen. They smelled of wet stones and moss, not to mention bad body odor. But there was one smell lingering in the air that she couldn't identify. It stunk up the entire house but she had no word for it. After a moment however her attention was pulled back to the mirror as she felt a stinging pain in her ear lobes. When she looked back he eyes widened in shock as she clenched her teeth in pain around the rag. 

Her ears were growing. The skin on her face seemed to sag, but the muscles underneath did not follow suit. Though just as it began to sag down it seemed to be pulled back up as the crests of her ears continued up through her hair and ended at a point after growing several inches and arching backward. Her eyebrows too began to lengthen. They didn't become anymore full or thick than they were but the hair on them began to grow incredibly long, defying gravity as it moved until growing an inch or two off the edge of her face. The skin on her jaw snapped from being pulled too taught and tore as if it had been no more than a plastic bag. She began to hyperventilate through her teeth as she watched her cold blue eyes begin to glow iridescent in the darkness of the house. She could feel the cold air of her house sliding in underneath the skin that now hung from her neck and under the mask-like remains of the white skin of her face as her gaze fell to what was beneath it. It appeared to be a second layer of skin and she barely had time to register that what was happening didn't hurt at all apart from the growing burning sensation in her ear lobes where metal piercings remained. 

She was in far too much shock to care about that though. The creature behind her brought his hand up and grabbed at the skin hanging from her face and yanked the clump off, tossing it aside, revealing to her that the skin that remained was a cool blueish gray rather than white. The only thing that hadn't changed color was her platinum blonde hair. Her features seemed sharper than they had before as well, her cheekbones more pronounced and her face more angular than it had been. She could see that under where the skin hung off her neck that the dull blue continued and she figured her entire body must be that color now. Before she was able to take in more of the sight however she was being dragged again before the rag was moved from her mouth to her eyes and the knife was pressed back to her throat. She couldn't stop herself from talking though, her brain was running rampant and the only way to relieve the pressure was to get the questions out. 

“What did you do to me?” she asked hysterically before she was pushed back to the tile floor, the side of her head hitting the floor with a heavy thud, sending her thoughts swimming as the men's voices began to deliberate. She could hear one of them fishing around in the kitchen for something as she struggled to understand their words. 

“She's probably been wearing that glamour her entire life. We aren't going to get any information out of a girl who spent twenty years thinking she was human.”

“I know!” the other shouted back at his partner before she felt his hands around her face again, tying a new gag around her head so now she could see nor breathe through her mouth.

"So what? We just leave her here? We can't go back empty-handed!" 

“We didn't!” She heard the other shout again as he stood from where he had been tying the gag and crossed the room again before she heard a small metallic clinking, the sound of a small chain. “We retrieved the amulet, that's more than what was expected of us isn't it?” 

“What about her?”

“Not our problem. It's not as if she can tell anyone about this,” he barked back as Nicole heard their footsteps head toward the back door of the house. Her head was swimming with pain and she could barely make out what they were saying. But before long she heard the back door opening. She never heard it close though, passing out before the screen door slammed.

She was still a bit dizzy when she finally woke up but she forced herself to roll over onto her back and jerk herself up into a sitting position. She wanted to lie there and catch her breath butt in the absence of danger she could no longer ignore the burning in her ear lobes. After a few quick breaths, she lurched forward again, using her momentum to stand up, her ankles still tied together. She knew vaguely where she had been pushed to the ground and tried to get her bearings by feeling around the kitchen for the end of the counter. She walked around backward, feeling for the edge with her tied together hands until they hit the corner of the countertop. Walking around it she opened the first drawer and fished around inside for the kitchen scissors. It took her more than a few tries, and a freshly sliced finger to finally grasp them. The cut wasn't too deep but it was enough to draw blood and she froze for a moment, registering the smell of her own blood. 

She had never smelled blood before tonight but it hit her very quickly that that was the scent that was staining the entire house. Her breath hitched in her throat as her mind raced, coming to the only quick conclusion she could about why her entire house would wreak of blood. Where had that monster grabbed the 'amulet' he spoke of from? 

She turned the scissors in her hands and opened them, snipping the rag in half that held her hands together before dropping them to the ground and rushing to rip the blindfold from her face. Looking around the room again, she barely had time to register that her vision had changed, the room appearing the be far brighter than it had before, even though no light shone in from the windows anymore. Her eyes landed on the two bodies in the corner of the room. She had never seen a dead person before, only animals, and none of those smelled as awful as the blood that pooled on the floor beneath the bodies on the kitchen floor. The figures were unmistakably her parents, though they too had been transformed by whatever the men had done to Nicole, their ears pointing up through their hair. Albeit less than her own, and their skin was still white rather than the blue that hers was. Every part of her went still as she stared down at the otherworldly figures in disbelief. 

'Okaayyy,' she thought as she inhaled through her nose sharply and wiped a few tears that were welling in her eyes. 'This is just a really...really fucked up dream,' she shook her head at her thoughts and began to work the gag out of her mouth, wiping the remains of clovers from her lips and face before she removed the ties from her ankles. “Really bad nightmare, just a really really fucked up nightmare come on,” she muttered to herself, her voice shaky, clearly trying to convince herself. 

She moved her hands to her ears and yelped in pain as she looked back down to her fingertips that had touched her earrings. They burned just as badly as her ear lobes and she moved to the faucet, planning to run them under hot water, but as her hands touched the metal of the handle her hand began to burn again and she yanked it away, wincing in pain. "Arrggghh what the fuck!?" She growled out before backhanding the handle as quickly as she could, the cold water beginning to run as she jammed her hands into the stream to cool them down. Her ears were on fire and she needed to get the rings out of them soon or she thought they may be burned for the rest of her life. As quickly as she could, taking short breaks to cool her fingertips in the water she finally managed to fight through the burning to get the rings from her ears and the sharp pain finally dulled to a low throb. 

She could taste all the smells of the room in her mouth and it made her want to throw up, her stomach revolting against the onslaught of newly heightened senses. She could taste the blood in the air, the metal tang of the sink, the scissors, the way her fresh cut on her finger stung and the edges of the skin seemed to be blackened. Her ear lobes were stiff and burned as well, she figured they probably matched the black of her cut, probably worse. She turned and moved to the bodies, approaching them slowly before She bent down over them and, without looking, fished a wallet from the male's pocket. As she opened it up she saw her father's face starring back at her in his driver's license.

“I need to get out of here,” her mind panicked as she began to breathe heavy. She began to pat down his pockets, looking for his car keys but they appeared to be gone. She found her mother's purse on the entryway table and the contents had been spilled out upon it. Again, no keys. “Fuck,” she gasped out as she shook herself and returned to the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. Her lobes were indeed blacked and her glowing blue eyes were putting her off. Somehow that was the hardest part to accept out of everything she was seeing. Not the blue skin or the fact that she could now twirl her eyebrows in her fingers, just the constant electric blue glow her eyes emitted. 

Skin still hung from her neck, and as she examined her cut on her finger she realized that the skin was stretched far too thin over her bony fingers. They had grown as well. “Okay this is too weird,” she let out before heading out of the bathroom and up the stairs to her room. She grabbed her satchel bag, slinging the strap over her shoulder and began jamming items into it as fast as she could. Her phone charger was first followed by the wallet she fished out of her back pocket. 

As she rooted around in her pockets she remembered the blunt wraps she had stolen and threw those too into the bag before bending down and reaching under her bed, producing a small glass jar filled with what was left of her latest purchase of weed and jammed it down into the satchel. Her fingers brushed over the metal lid of the jar briefly causing her to flinch. “Gahhh stop touching metal!” She half shouted at herself. She didn't understand why it burned but it was plain that that was the thing that was burning her at this point. Standing again she looked around the room, struggling to keep her mind on the task. If she let herself rest she would be forced to confront the fact that her parents were dead on the kitchen floor and she couldn't do that right now. She needed to leave before anything else happened. 

Moving to her dresser she opened the top drawer quickly and shoved two pairs of panties down into her bag and an extra pair of socks before leaving the room and heading back to the bathroom. She looked up and down her shelf in the bathroom and decided rather than sort it out she would simply open the bag and push the entirety of the contents into it for the sake of time. As the bottles of makeup and deodorants fell into the bag she shut it and quickly moved back to the kitchen entryway table and grabbed anything she thought may be useful from the counter where her mother's belongings were spread wide. Her cell phone, her wallet and any loose change were the best targets before she moved to where her father lay on the tile and grabbed his wallet up from the floor where she had left it and shoved it down into her pocket before grabbing the pair of gloves and hat she had been gifted earlier from the floor where she had been thrown. 

Heading out the back door of the house she stepped carefully, trying to keep her ears focused on her backyard but quickly found that she couldn't. She could hear several blocks down the street, dogs barking and cars running by on the road out front. It was already dark, and the storm had begun, already blanketing the town with nearly an inch of snow and it showed no signs of slowing down. The cold drops felt great compared to all of her new burns but she knew she needed to decide where exactly she was going as fast as possible. She felt sick to her stomach and even though she had been incapacitated for several hours she felt unbelievably tired. 

She pulled her mother's phone from her pocket and checked the time, 'past nine already,' she thought to herself in shock before opening the address book. She paused though as realization began to set in. Who was she supposed to call for this? Not the police. Not her extended family, if they even were her family. If she was even actually related to the monsters that had been dead in her kitchen. No siblings, no friends, no boyfriend. Even if she did who the hell was going to believe her about any of this? If they did believe her then what could even be done? 

"Faerie tales..." she breathed out slowly. The words seemed to linger in the air, her visible breath swirling around her as she thought the words over. Her legs began to move before she even realized where she was headed. Back through the edge of her back yard and into the woods. It was only a thirty-second walk to the train tracks and she turned right when she met them, heading back toward the direction She had come from in the stranger's car hours earlier. "Come on this is stupid," she scolded herself as she raised a hand to her head. It was pounding. She could smell and taste the iron of the rails beside her, feel each individual spike in each sleeper beneath them as she walked. She already felt sick before walking along the tracks and after a hundred yards of breathing iron soaked air, she couldn't help but lean forward and vomit. She hadn't eaten in over twelve hours by this point, and the only thing that came up was stomach acid. Her stomach was as empty as a pit and it hurt to stand back up straight but she had no time for this. 

Her head seemed to clear a little as she sucked in the cold air of the night, snow falling through the barren trees of fall and covering her hair and clothes in white specks. She pulled the gray beanie from her bag and pulled it on, trying to tuck her long pointed ears into it with little success before pulling the gloves on over her elongated bony fingers. She figured she might look almost human. 'Human,' the thought the word over in her head. It hadn't quite hit her until that moment that she mustn't be one. She got back to walking down the tracks and was thankful when they met the road nearly twenty minutes later, finally able to see street lights and let them lead the rest of her journey. The last thing she needed was some freak mugging her right now. 

'You're not human,' her voice rang out in her head as she reached her hand up to her neck to scratch it, coming away with the rubbery white skin all between her fingers. She shook in discomfort before reaching up to her throat again and grabbing at it, pulling a large wad of it from her skin and tossing it aside into the snow. She turned left from the tracks onto the street and she walked along the sidewalk, thankful for once that it was so cold and so dark that people wouldn't be outside to see her like this. Being found by the police was not going to help this situation. Though as she walked up the street toward the swooping corner and the road Thorn had indicated to while driving she began to realize that she had no idea which apartment building would be his. If his car was parked in a garage she was screwed. As she reached the intersection and turned up his street farther from the railroad she let her ears out of the beanie to see if she could by chance hear him. 

"Well," her teeth chattered. "At least these two streets are both short dead ends...it can't be far," she thought out loud. Of course, though it was the last building at the end of the second street she checked, his tiny blue Hyundai sat in the driveway, covered in snow she had almost missed it. She looked up the three-story building wondering which apartment would be his before stepping up to the door. Turning the knob she was shocked to find that the front door was unlocked, and she slid it open slowly, looking in through the crack to find that the door thankfully didn't open up into anybody's apartment, just a stairwell with two doors. She shut the door behind her and took the beanie off, pressing her ear to the first door and heard nothing. Moving to the stairs she climbed to the second floor and again, pressing her ear to the door she heard nothing. She could faintly hear the voices of a television show coming from the third floor so she moved to the stairs again and trudged the rest of the way up. 

Though as she got halfway up the last staircase she heard the show go silent and stopped before she looked up to the door straight ahead of her. She thought she heard faint footsteps coming toward the door but they stopped just short. 

“Hooohh,” she exhaled, steeling herself for whatever happened next. “Thorn..?” she said a little softer than she had intended. She prepped herself to take the last few steps and knock when the door opened to her surprise and he stood in the doorway starring down at her with, she noted, a less than surprised look on his face. 

“Who's asking,” he asked through gritted teeth and she saw him tense up before looking down to find that his hand was clenched around a railroad spike. She could feel it in his hand, taste the metal on her tongue and it made her next words all the harder to say. 

"Thorn it's...it's Nicole from...earlier today," she said as she leaned up against the wall and brought her hand up to her forehead. She felt dizzy. Why was she here? Why did she think that THIS was a good idea? "I'm sorry I'll go this was a mistake," she breathed out, turning to go down the stairs, grabbing onto the wooden handrail to steady herself. It wasn't enough though and after only two steps she felt as though she would pass out again if she tried to take another. 

"Nicole?" he asked softly in a questioning tone before she heard him take one step out into the hallway. It was dark in the stairwell, only the faint light from his apartment casting light down to her level. She had been able to make out his features but she was sure that he more than likely couldn't see her. 

“It's okay I'm...fine,” she slurred as her vision swam, overwhelmed by every event of that day she sunk into a crouch on the stairs, fighting to keep herself from falling. “Just a dream,” she muttered to herself.

"Your glamour looks like shit," she heard from behind her. She hadn't even noticed him coming down to stand behind her. "Not nearly good enough to keep lying to me about being human." He sounded angry with her like there was bite in his words. 

“Glamour?” she asked in a daze, looking back over her shoulder, the light from his room caught her face as he studied her. “What's that? I didn't lie I...something...happened when I got home and now I'm,” she looked down to the floor. “I'm..?” She got out before the hallway went black and she lost consciousness again, laying back on the stairs. 


	4. Chapter Three

You were Red,  
And you liked me because I was Blue  
But you touched me,  
and suddenly I was a Lilac sky  
And you decided Purple,  
Just wasn't for you.

-Halsey, Colors

Chapter Three

"Hah!" Nicole couldn't help but half scream. Her chest rose and fell with labored breathes as she jolted upright and her eyes flew open in panic. The room was dark all around her, but with the help of her new eyes, she could still see everything more than fine. "Where?" she let out softly as her hand raised to her forehead, stopping for a moment to look over it as it passed her field of view. Several pieces of torn white skin still clung around her palm, though the blue of her elongated fingers was obvious to her.

"Okay so...not a dream," she said softly as she removed the deep blue blanket that had been placed over her, looking it over carefully before beginning to remember the rest of her actions earlier in the evening. "Thorn," she gasped as she swung her legs out from over the bed and stood. Before she could manage to take a step she fell sideways into the wall, the side of her head knocking into the drywall with a dull thud. She was incredibly dizzy and very off-balance, but she had had her fill with being helpless tonight. She was determined to ignore the pain and forced herself to the door and grabbed for the handle her fingers lighting up with pain a soon as she touched it and she quietly growled curses to herself. Nicole pulled down her sleeve and opened the door with her fingers covered by it. She found herself in a very long room. To her right was the small kitchen, and too her left was the living room. The door to her left, ajar, led to the bathroom.

"I'm in here," she heard a male voice grumble coming from her left. She slowly walked around the corner to find Thorn sitting at a computer desk, the only light in the entire apartment coming from its screen. She could see in its glow that the railroad spike from earlier was sitting in front of him on the table. She froze as she looked him up and down, forgetting how ridiculous she must look to him. "Why did you come here...?" He finally asked. Before she could even find the words to try and answer he spoke again. "You enchant me earlier? Make me WANT to bring you home? Hmm?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. She couldn't look away from his face but she could see too that he was running his fingers over a ring on his right ring finger that hadn't been there earlier. Her vision began to blur, her icy blue eyes darting around the room, unable to focus. She couldn't understand how she could see so well.

"Wha? No, I...I don't understand," she began before trailing off and watched the muscles in his jaw clench over and over as he sat in thought. “I don't know what you mean.”

“Alright let's get more specific than,” he finally let out before he stood, railroad spike in hand, and walked over to where she stood. She couldn't help but shuffle backward in fear as the light from the monitor highlighted his intense bone structure. “What happened when you got home today?”

“I was attacked when I got inside...” she began softly and looked down at the floor. “It's crazy I...I don't know what I saw,” she choked out before seeing her own hands. “I don't even know what I'm seeing right now.”

“Try me,” he snorted with a fake smile, grabbing her attention back to his face.

“Monsters...were at my house and they...killed my family and made me...” She trailed off again. “This is stupi-”

“Answer the question!” He growled back at her between clenched teeth before bringing the railroad spike up to her face, holding it only an inch from her eye as he grabbed the back of her neck and held her in place. Her eyes flew wide open and she began to feel the last bits of sleep leave her as adrenaline began to pump through her veins. This was her second threatening of the day and this time she was going to make an effort to not piss off her interrogator off. She couldn't resist anyway, had no drive to pull back or to fight her way out of his grasp. Weirdly, she found that without realizing it, she had longed for his touch.

"They made me eat some clovers and look at myself through a stone in the mirror! I'm sorry I don't know what's happening please don't!" She hated how she sounded. She could feel tears choked in the back of her throat, a scared little girl had taken control of her usually well-controlled personality. Whatever she felt about it though she was thankful that it had seemed to get through to him and he dropped his arms. "You...you believe me?" She asked skeptically as he began to turn away from her and pace back and forth on the carpeted floor.

“Fae can't lie...well,” he stopped, looking back to her, “They can't say something that they know for a fact isn't true. I believe that that is what you think happened.”

"That is exactly what happened!" She half shouted back at him before shaking her head. "What do you mean Fae, what does that mean?" Her voice was still shaky from their close encounter. Her mind focused on all the wrong things, only the things she could notice when he was close. 'So warm,' she thought to herself. His whole presence had been far too warm. He wasn't dressed warmly so why the hell was his skin so hot? Why did he radiate such immense amounts of heat?

He squinted at her carefully, as if trying to look inside of her, past her face like she wasn't even there, deep brown eyes peering into her soul. "You really have no idea what you are, do you?"

"Well, I guess I'm...clearly not human anymore right?" She suggested softly as she folded her arms across her chest. Again she couldn't focus on his eyes, vision spreading across the room to shelves filled with books. Collectibles and even some small amount of jewelry lined their shelves, though she was too far away to study it further.

"You never were human, it doesn't work like that," he couldn't help but serve up that wicked smirk she had caught a glimpse of in the car. He walked closer to her again and, though she carefully stepped backward she stopped when she saw him turn and toss the spike back to his chair and hold his hands up for her to see. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you...I won't hurt you."

She stopped backing away and held her own hands out for him to see. “Hookay,” she breathed out nervously. 'I was able to lie before, why can't I now? And why would I trust someone so easily when they can still lie to me?' she thought as she felt the warmth of his touch on her fingers.

His touch made her flush. She watched as his fingers ran up and down her hands and couldn’t quite understand how warm it made her feel.

"Looks like," he began before peeling a strip of skin that had hung loosely from the back of her hand. "Someone had you glamoured up pretty tight...you've probably been wearing it your entire life."

“You said that word in the stairwell,” she began, remembering the encounter in a haze “Glamour?”

“Magic,” he smiled. “And once one like this comes off there's no getting it back on straight.”

“Magic?” she asked skeptically. “Seriously? That's what you're going with?” She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Yes magic? Look at yourself. Is that really so hard to believe?”

“...I guess...maybe it isn't so hard,” she thought as she saw him pull away the rest of the skin from one of her hands. “Why doesn't this hurt?”

"Because it's not actually attached to you," he laughed a little before reaching up and pulling his beanie from her head, taking in a closer look at her ears. "Think of it as one of those airtight vacuum bags that form fit to whatever is in them. That's what you're wearing basically. It's not a normal glamour."

"Okay, that...sort of makes sense. What's not normal about it?"

“Well for starters you didn't even know you were wearing it. Which means somebody else put it on you. Not to mention it's extremely powerful if they had to make you eat clovers AND look through a seeing stone at yourself to break it. Not to mention that regular glamours aren't actually physical changes. They just fool the perception of mortal eyes.”

“Okay...mortal?”

"Huhhhh alright come in the bathroom and we will get the rest of this shit off of you and I'll keep explaining," he suggested as he pointed toward the bathroom. He ushered her inside and paused in the doorway. "Go ahead and get in the shower and I'll come in when you're in."

She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and turn back to him, "What you don't wanna watch?" she teased with a wink.

“I've seen my fair share of Faeries...I'm good,” he frowned as he shot a gaze down to the ring he was still fumbling with on his finger and closed the door until it was only cracked. She turned to the mirror hanging on the wall and was shocked to see her reflection starring back at her.

"What the hell did I say that for...I look disgusting," she shivered before beginning to pull her clothes off, stripping down to find the skin hung loose all over her, only clinging to certain places like her hips and shoulders. Turning up the water and letting herself in she closed the glass door and yelled back to Thorn, "Alright I'm good."

She heard him walk back into the room and turned to look through the glass, half disappointed and half relieved that the glass of the door was rough and she couldn't see through it properly, figuring that he couldn't either. "Try washing more of that shit off. I'm sure it's gross when wet but it needs to come off or you're gonna look like a corpse walking through town."

"Can't be worse than an elf walking around in broad daylight," she said softly. So softly that she hadn't expected him to respond over the noise of running water.

“I think that that's probably what you were born as but I think you changed underneath that glamour at some point.”

She pushed the glass door open in surprise and poked her head out at him, “I was fucking kidding, how did you hear that?” She asked swiftly as she watched him look toward the floor and cover his eyes from the sight of her.

“I have good hearing, now get back in there,” he shooed at her.

She frowned again before closing the door and beginning to peel long strips down her body. Nothing in her shape or typically flawless skin seemed to change other than the color as eventually all of her true, Grey-blue skin was free from the mess. Apart from that, the only difference she could see was that the flesh beneath her fingernails was more white than it was pink or purple and it made her unpainted nails stand out more as if they were painted a clean white.

“You said I changed...Does that mean you know what I am?”

“Well,” he said, she could tell he was trying to study her through the unclear glass. “I think you're a Drow.”

“Which is?” She mused and propped herself up on the tips of her toes to peer over the top of the glass.

“Like I said you were probably born as an elf of some kind, but Elves change into Drows extremely easily. It takes serious discipline to keep from committing enough sins as an Elf to keep from changing. But an Elf disguised as a human that has no clue they are en Elf? There's no way you'd have been able to prevent it.”

“Sinning? What am I fuckin priest?” She asked cynically. “That's all it takes?”

“Elvin and Human sins are VERY different. Like I said there's no way you could have ever known the difference.”

“Okay well...what exactly does that mean for me?”

"Well Drows are...hypersexual Faeries," he began before she couldn't stop herself from laughing. “Even by Fae standards which are quite high. Fallen from grace type of deal,” he shrugged.

"Hey, you're the one who didn't wanna watch me undress you know?"

"Yeah well, I have ways of resisting...like I said you're not the first I've met. I've learned my lessons about the folk. But to anyone on the street, in this state, you would be irresistible. You'd be able to suggest that people do things for you and they would be happy to do them. Most Fae can enchant people by choice but Drows can't turn it off. It's your nature. Fortunate that this means that you'll barely need to glamour yourself to keep from getting into trouble since you have no idea how to do it," he smirked and she could swear she could almost see the gesture through the fogged glass.

Her vision fell to the mess of gunk now clogging the drain and she couldn't help but gag, realizing it was spreading out with the mildly rising water. “If you're so immune then can you help me real quick?” she suggested softly again before opening the glass door and presenting her back to him. She saw over her shoulder as she looked back toward him with a grin of her own that he was hesitating. “Help me get the rest of it off my back, I can't reach,” she asked him, a hint of pleasure rising in her voice as she saw him squirm. “Unless you can't handle it,” she teased.

She watched as he rolled his eyes before Thorn stepped across the small space between them. He grabbed a towel from the rack beside the shower and reached past her, wetting it under the water for a moment. 'There's my chance,' she absently thought. She closed her right arm over his and pulled him closer, shoving her weight backward into him, crushing their pelvis' together, "Oooh sorry," she cooed before she felt his free hand clamp down on her left hip to balance himself. She swore she could feel him trembling but when she looked back at him she found his eyes hard, and his expression blank.

“Let me go,” he let out flatly with a sigh. Shame washed over her as she began to realize what she had done.

“S-sorry I didn't...I-” She stammered as she let go of his arm and let him go, feeling him push her away a few inches before she felt the wet towel at her back.

"As I said," he began again as she felt the wave of shame wash throughout her body, feeling his free hand again, this time gripped onto her shoulder for leverage. "It's your nature. This is what you are now." His tone burned in her ears so badly that she wanted to run. She could feel his emotions on his words and she began to curse herself in her head, trying to drown out the longing that came with his skin touching hers. She hadn't even wanted to do that. It had just happened. She had seen his arm reach down underneath her own and before she knew it she felt them pressed together.

She stood as still as she could as the rough towel scraped across and up and down her back until he seemed to be satisfied with his work and pulled away. “I'm gonna go change,” she heard, having nearly forgotten that she had made him wet. “Rinse off and finish up on your own.”

She wanted to apologize, to somehow take back her actions, but by the time the words made it to her soaking lips the door was already closed, and she was alone. Staring down at her own gray legs and on into the clogged drain she felt like curling up at the bottom of the shower and crying. She couldn't let this get to her though could she? She had never felt shame before so why was it so unbearable now? Was it because of her new body? Her mind? 'Or is it because I actually have feelings for-' she began before shaking her head violently, trying to shoo the thoughts out of her mind before she reached out to turn the water down. "Yoow!" She yelled before gritting her teeth and growling at the metal knob that controlled the water. "God this is so annoying!" She yelled back at the inanimate object, digging her nails into her upper arms.

“Just get out I'll take care of that,” she heard through the door, lucky for her new ears or else she would have never been able to hear him over the water.

"Thanks," she let out softly, again not expecting him to answer, and this time he didn't. She opened the door again and walked out onto the rug, pulling a towel from the wall and began the long process of drying off. Once she was satisfied with how dry her hair was, she moved on to her body until that too was done, and wrapped the towel around herself. She peeked out from the bathroom and around the corner to find him sitting back in his chair with a new pair of shorts on and no shirt. She had wanted to say something but the sight of him had captured her attention and her jaw simply hung open in silence. He wasn't overly muscled, clearly didn't go out of his way to work out, but he was noticeably in shape. She figured the work at the golf course kept him shapely and she watched as he looked up from his monitor to her. His eyes rested on her hips for several heartbeats before she finally saw him look up into her eyes.

“The...drain,” she finally managed to get out, sucking in a deep breath through her nose nervously. She watched him stand and head toward her but felt a wave of disappointment when he simply walked right by her and into the bathroom and left her to her own devices in his apartment. As he walked by though she got a new wave of smells and this time they were almost as unpleasant as the stink of iron from every corner of the room. 'Dog?' she asked herself in her mind before pinching her nose with her fingers. 'Ugh wet dog, what the hell is that smell coming from?'

She walked across the room, sat down in his chair and looked to the computer screen as she let her arms fall to her lap, the smell had passed.

When Thorn finally returned he found her sitting in his chair wrapped in her towel still. This time though she seemed far more collected and as if she was waiting for him. “They...they took something from my mom's body. I forgot about it until a few minutes ago.”

“Something? Took what?”

"It was a necklace..." she said softly, looking to the floor. "My mother wore it all the time, never took the thing off. Had a big emerald in the center embedded in glass with a black cloth band. They said they weren't leaving empty-handed since they had it."

“The monsters?” He questioned. “What did they look like?”

“Huge guys. Way taller than you or me. Golden eyes and really big hands, dark green rough skin and long black hair.”

“Trolls,” he raised an eyebrow and gave a thoughtful look back to her. “And they didn't take anything else?” She shook her head.

"They hid my parents' keys so I couldn't take one of their cars but with how much I burned from wearing earrings," she gestured to her cracked and burnt black skin of her ear lobes, "I don't think I'd be able to open the car door anyway."

“The Fae are extremely...allergic I guess you could call it, to all forms of metal, but especially Iron.”

“Why? That's so random.”

"Not really," he answered. "Fey don't have iron in their blood as humans do. Can't touch it, can't be around it for too long or you'll be poisoned by it. Makes you sick to your stomach."

“So that's why I threw up on the way here...I walked along the train tracks to get here.”

"Shit no wonder you passed out," he chuckled to himself, leaning against the wall looking down at her. "You said she never took it off? Family heirloom or a present or something?"

"She said that it was something that she brought with her from Jersey. Ya family heirloom or something. Said it would be mine someday but I don't know that she ever intended to give it up. She really loved it," she shrugged.

“Wait...I forgot you told me that you told me you were from Jersey. What part?”

“Small town near the border with New York? Why?”

“What town?” He pushed impatiently.

"Denville, Jesus what is this an interrogation?" She spat back at him, sinking back in his chair. He was quiet for a long while as he seemed to be itching to ask her one more question. "What is it?"

“What's your full name?” he asked her softly.

“What? Nicole Revan, why?”

“Middle too,” he raised an eyebrow, hoping she would indulge him one more time. 'She doesn't know the rules about Fae's names but I doubt it's her real name anyway,'

“Irene, what's got you so freaked out?”

She could see that he was well and truly confused. Pressing his hand to his forehead, he began to pace back and forth on the carpet. After several moments she saw him pull his cell phone from his pocket and begin to text someone. “Please don't call the police!”

“I'm not,” he said as he glanced at her before returning his attention to his phone. “The police can't help you, not now.”

“Okay...ominous much?” her voice cracked out as she failed to hold in her worry.

“We need to get some sleep. We need to leave in the morning, first thing, before sunrise if we can help it.”

"Woah Woah back up," she sprang up from his chair and walked over to him. "Where are we going? And why so early? Why's my name so important?"

“There's a very good chance that those trolls aren't the only ones who are coming after that Amulet, and if you don't have it then not all your assailants will be so nice as to leave you alive. They won't come in my apartment until they are sure that there is no alternative so we need to go bright and early before they get up the courage to come up here. We are going to New York so see some...people I know. They'll know what to do more than I will.”

She digested his words slowly, breathing heavily but trying to keep her calm in the face of his slightly panicked tone. There was the smell again. Standing only a few inches from him she couldn't help but comment on it. "Do you have a dog or something?" She saw him jump back from her as if worried she would reach out and grab him.

“No sorry I just...haven't showered from work yet.”

She shook her head, trying to focus her mind back on their previous topic, “Look my parents just got killed I can't be running off to New York, what if the cops come looking for me?”

“If we stay here you are going to be following them pretty quick. We need to go. I'm sorry but this isn't going to end. And since you so graciously passed out in my apartment they are going to be able to track you here and I don't have the desire to be interrogated by trolls on where you went. We are going. Now go get some sleep. I'll stay on the couch, you can have the bed,” he let out as he walked past her and began shutting down his computer.

"Huhhhhh, fine! But why are you sleeping out here? I was in there earlier, you have a king-sized bed. There's more than enough room for the two of us to sleep away from each other on that mattress."

"No thanks," he bit back. "Not interested," he finished as he flopped down on the couch. She lingered in the hallway, watching him, her feelings genuinely hurt that he saw her as so repulsive. 'He's human and you aren't. What makes you think he would ever want you? You lied to him,' her thoughts rang out in her head as she bit her tongue and walked into his bedroom closing the door behind herself.

The next time she woke she was being shaken slightly, hands on her shoulders trying to pull her out of sleep. Her eyes cracked open ever so slightly and saw his frame sitting beside her on the mattress. Her eyes, stained with sleep, flicked over to the window and she groaned, turning over on the mattress, the blankets moving with her and revealing her backside to him. "It's still dark," she mumbled into the pillow. "I've woken up three times tonight and it's still fucking dark outside," she whined, barely audibly.

She felt the mattress shift as he stood, feeling the cold air of the night on her back before turning over again and pushing her self up from the bed to look at him. Wiping her eyes out, however, became necessary as she could hardly follow his movements in the dark. She saw him cross to the closet and begin to pull things out of a box from the floor within. They were a woman's clothes. A pair of black leggings that she was sure would be a little tight on her, socks with black cats on them and a pair of flats, followed finally by a black tank top. "Collect women's clothes do we?" she yawned with a wink. "Trophies from girls you take home?"

“They were left at my last apartment by my ex,” he shot back at her before tossing them to the bed.

“I'll freeze in this,” she answered, holding up the tank.

“You're going to be in a metal box for over two hours and I'll have the heat on AND I have a hoodie for you in the car. Trust me, staying warm will not be a big deal. Bring a blanket if you want.”

She couldn't help but notice that he was resisting looking at her bare body with all his might, fists balled in frustration. “Is everything okay?”

“Was hoping that one of my friends was in town but he isn't so we are going to have to go to New York after all. Come on we gotta be out by sunrise,” he finished before leaving her to dress alone in the dark room.

When she was all set and dressed she headed out to find her bag ready for her on the table and that Thorn was waiting by the coffee pot in his kitchen. “Want any for the road?”

“Yes...please,” she answered in surprise. Once her cup was poured he directed her to the sugar and creamer on the counter and she fixed it the way she liked it. As they stepped out into the hall he turned and locked his door before leading her down the steps and out to the car, he even opened and shut her door for her. She wanted to believe that he had done so because he wanted to impress her, but she reasoned that it was more likely because he didn't want to hear her complain about touching metal anymore this morning.

The air in the car stank of Iron. It only got worse when the engine turned over and she could smell the fumes through the footwell of the iron beast. "Oh god that is just awful," she gagged before reaching for the window controls, hers rolling down before she stuck her head out and began to breathe in the fresh crisp air of winter.

“You can keep that open if you want, doesn't bother me,” he said as he leaned back, grabbing the red and black hoodie from his back seat and tossed it to her. “Prolly want that though.”

She could smell it in her lap, wet dog again, but she quickly decided that it was better than the burning smell of iron and exhaust and threw it on, leaving her nose tucked under the collar. The dull worn reds and whites of the design against her nearly purple skin looked ridiculous to her. As they began down the road toward the highway she decided that at least moving fast was better, so she could no longer smell the exhaust so much. But the Iron was inescapable, feeling more and more like the metal box was closing up on her every second that passed by. She stuck her nose into her open coffee cup and began to take deep breathes, trying to concentrate on only that smell, so much so that she only sipped at it once every few minutes. She didn't even want to drink it. Drinking from the cup meant she would wake more quickly and be forced to sort through her thoughts, focus on the smells around her that assaulted her senses.

“If you need to throw up just tell me, we can pull over.”

“Can't this thing go any faster?” She grumbled. “Or couldn't we stop and get on the train?”

That made him laugh. Genuinely too, she watched as he couldn't help but smile through his forced scowling. “If you wanna die faster then ya, we could take the train. You think this metal box is bad, wait until you're in a giant metal tube on metal tracks. Besides we would need to stop in Hartford or New London to get on and spend more money, which I assume you have none of. Hartford is expensive and New London will take another hour on top of what it would take to drive there. Trust me you don't want to take the train.”

She sighed again heavily, leaning her head on the edge of the seat and window, letting her hair be blown out into the wind, trying to suck own as much fresh air as she could as they got onto the highway. "This is gonna be a long-ass day isn't it?"

"Very much," he sighed a sigh to match her own as he rests his elbow on the armrest between them and his head on his fist. “I'd recommend going back to sleep if you can. When we get there there's gonna be a lot of talk and it would be good if you were in condition enough to actually listen. You'll learn a lot if you pay attention so if you feel tired then don't fight it.”

She barely heard the end of his sentence before her eyes were closed and she was back in dreamland.


	5. Chapter Four

I’m waking up to gospel radio  
From sleeping with my clothes on  
I ended up as food for wolves  
For trying to take the world on  
I’m wondering where you would be without me

-The Wonder Years, The Bastards The Vultures The Wolves

Chapter Four

“Huarrhhh!!” She heaved, hanging out of the window of the awful blue metal box on wheels. Her fingers were gripped to the edge of the window tight as she lost what little food she had been able to eat over the past few hours in the car. She felt sick. Sick to the core. Every inch of her insides burned and ached and she needed out. She could barely hear Thorn sigh behind her as she closed her eyes tightly and began to spit toxic bile from her mouth, trying to force the taste out.

“I said let me know if we need to stop,” he groaned, running his hand over his face as they sat in traffic.

“Fuck off,” she growled before she flopped back into her chair and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. “When are we going to be there?” She had slept horribly in the car. At least back in his bed, she had slept well, just not long enough. She was mad at him for waking her up so early, but above all, she was mad that he had been so secretive since her latest nap. He had been stoic and silent nearly the entire car ride. More often than not, when they did speak, he wouldn't even spare her a glance.

“It's just a few blocks away. Five minutes or less.”

At least that was a straightforward answer. At least it made sense. Unlike everything else, she had been given answers to in the last twenty-four hours. Faeries. Stolen Amulets. 'Sex crazed elves,' her voice rang out in her head as a smile curled up into her lips and she looked over to her driver. Before she could do any more damage to their partnership though she pinched her skin with her long nails. The smile evaporated from her face as the now-familiar wave of shame broke over her. She shivered at how quickly she had become used to the exchange with herself.

When the car finally slowed and pulled over she couldn't get out fast enough. She threw the door open and dropped to the cement of the sidewalk and wretched again, dry heaving dramatically as Thorn shut the car off and rounded the vehicle to offer her a hand. “Oh what?” she finally asks as she looks up to him, icy blue eyes piercing right into his dull brown ones. “You're a dick all day but now you wanna be chivalrous again?” She hated the words that came out but found that she had been biting them back for the entire drive. She lifted herself to her feet and staggered toward the door, leaving him behind.

As she yanked the door open; however she had to shake her head in disbelief, eyes darting back and forth over the sights of the room. “A...coffee shop?” She let out softly before turning back to find her him urging her inside. Once the door closed behind them they heard a girl's voice ring out and Nicole saw Thorn rolled his eyes and bring his hand to his forehead. “You dragged me out here for two hours in that death trap for a coffee shop?!”

“Thorn!” they heard from the young woman at the counter. “Finally come to visit me!” she sounded positively giddy with excitement. She was blonde, with almond-shaped brown eyes. Nicole could easily tell from across the room that she was some flavor of Asian, and FAR too young for Thorn.

“Fuuuckkkk whyyyyyyy are you working the counter today of all days,” he sighed under his breath as he took Nicole's hand and walked up to the counter. She had a pale white smock on over a pair of blue jeans and a hoodie, it's logos obscured by the smock. “Four-leaf tea, as fast as you can,” he let out as he leaned on the counter for a moment, ignoring her excitement.

Nicole's eyes left the girl and flew to the menu posted up on the wall behind her before she twirled and took in the full site of the shop. Tons of different mugs decorated shelves and small merch tables, hoodies and t-shirts beside them with the words 'Moon in a Cup' plastered all over them in all different colors. Mostly pastels she noted. The walls were a deep and dry red, like fallen leaves and every person she saw at the tables looked more and more suspicious. Half of them were as human as she had ever looked, but another half seemed to not be so concerned with what they looked like. That or, as Thorn had briefly explained, she was seeing through a lazy glamour they were wearing for the mortals to look at.

“Oh come on Thorn,” the girl pouted as she leaned her small bust on the counter, grabbing Nicole's attention, the tips of her ears getting hot at the girl's tone.

'What the hell was that?' she thought as she began to rifle through her feelings.

“Kate I'm really not in the mood, alright? I need to see Kaye as soon as possible. Is she here?”

“Hurrh,” the girl groaned. “Why is everyone so obsessed with seeing Kaye,” she growled the name between her teeth.

“Kate,” he growled back, slapping his hand down on the counter impatiently. Not too aggressively but it was enough to snap her back to the conversation.

The girl composed herself as best she could and plastered a fake smile on her cheeks before responding. “Four-leaf tea it is then,” she let out before pointing behind her with her thumb and looked behind them. “Next,” she let out as they moved out of the line and toward where she had pointed, a red curtain which led to the back offices of the shop. Once through Nicole finally spoke up.

“What the hell was all that? What's four-leaf tea?”

“Four-leaf clovers break glamours, especially the simple sort. THAT was Kaye's twin, the Pixie we are here to see.”

“Well Kate wants your dick,” she spat out before really realizing what she had said. 'Why the fuck did I say that!' She yelled inside her mind.

“Yes thank you I've noticed,” he rolled his eyes and directed her down the hallway.

As they walked on, she saw several doors that lined the hallway. The first on the right had a plaque to the right side of it which read, 'The Curse Workers.' First on the left side of the hall had a glass panel in the center with black lettering across the center, 'Drafts and Medicines.' She could hear someone toiling away behind that particular door and thought she saw an incredibly large figure through the rough glass but decided it would be better to not be left behind as Thorn continued on. The next door on her right too had a glass pane and this time Thorn stopped and rapped on the glass with the back of his pointer finger. Looking around, Nicole could see that there was one more office down the hall on the left and could barely make out the words on the plaque beside it, 'Blade Twins.'

“Glamours and Enchantments?” Nicole asked out loud before she heard some fumbling inside the room.

“Kaye? It's Thorn I...you got time?” he asked and she noted a hint of carefulness in his tone.

When the door swung open Nicole found a sight that probably rivaled her ridiculousness. The green skin of the pixie matched her green and flowing hair. Black split pupils flicked from Nicole to Thorn as the pixie flashed a smile when she looked at him. Nicole saw a pair of reddish translucent wings flutter through what she had to assume were holes in the back of a remarkably human band t-shirt. She wore human pants too, black leggings that nearly matched Nicole's, and above all the things that caught the Drow's eyes, it was the necklace around Kaye's neck, nearly identical, except in color, to the one stolen from her mother's corpse.

“Thorn,” she smiles out. “I wish you would make an appointment like a normal customer but it's good to see you though,” she let out before seeming to notice Nicole.

“That's what I'm here to talk to you about. Can we come in?” Thorn asked impatiently. Nicole couldn't help but overthink the 'appointment' that the girl had wished Thorn had made. Just how impolite were they being right now?

“Yeah I've got a little time,” the pixie replied as she turned back into her office and walked inside, motioning for them to follow. “Who's your friend?”

Nicole followed Thorn into the room and was shocked to find all the human decorations around it. Old band posters and memorabilia littered the room in no real planned out way. Drifts of oddball items were scattered on the floor but Kaye simply walked past them like they were exactly where they were meant to be. Mountains of coffee mugs were piled on her desk which she sat at as soon as she could and touched a long, four jointed finger to the screen of her cell phone which sat in front of her on the table before returning her focus to Thorn.

“This is Nicole...” he said awkwardly. She could tell he had wanted to tell Kaye that they weren't really friends. But he had held it in all the same. “We've got problems...is Roiben around?”

Kaye seemed a bit shocked and Nicole knew not why. Nor had Nicole ever heard so strange a name as Roiben. “I may be his girlfriend but that doesn't mean I own him,” she began before Thorn cut her off. Thorn couldn't help but roll his eyes at her statement and Nicole made a mental note to ask him about it later.

“No no,” he shook his head and took a seat. “Not like that. Besides I'm not ready to cash in that favor yet.”

“Then for what do you need him?”

“He is more likely to know the answers to my questions than you are. No offense of course. I have questions about...Nicnevin,” he said softly and she saw Kaye become visibly uncomfortable.

“That's a pretty rough subject for you to just come in here and ask about you know Thorn,” she said softly. “But I can try to answer your questions. As I implied, he is away right now.”

Thorn sucked down a long breath before sinking into a chair on the opposite side of the table from Kaye and motioning for Nicole to sit in the one beside him. She took the chair and wondered why Kaye was smiling at them both so widely. She must be getting the wrong idea. “Do you have a piece of paper and a pen I can borrow for a second?”

“Uh yeah I think so,” she said and Nicole watched as her long and bony green fingers rifled through the items on her desk until she was able to slip a piece of paper and pen to Thorn who began to write something. When his hand came away she found that he had written down her full name on it and he turned it around to show Kaye who almost instantly closed her eyes and looked away. “Thorn! Why would you show me her name that's awful of you!” She shouted at him. Nicole was shocked to see how quickly she had moved and how utterly disgusted she looked with Thorn.

“Is my name that awful?” She wondered out loud and Kaye noted that she sounded a bit hurt.

“What?...No that’s…” Kaye shot a confused look at Thorn.

“It’s not her real name. Just look alright?” He pleaded as Kaye slowly turned her attention down to the slip of paper.

“Nicole Irene Revin,” she read aloud. “What exactly am I supposed to be seeing here?”

Thorn, using stray small objects from the table, began to cover up sections of her name. Before he had even finished Kaye’s eyes had gone wide in surprise.  
‘Nic ne vin’ was all that was left uncovered on the paper.

“Who’s Nicnevin,” Nikki spoke up as Kaye turned her gaze to her. “You said that name before,” she said shyly.

“You...you really don’t…” Kaye began but it was all coming together in her mind. She seemed to be staring at Nicole’s ears as well as she continued talking. “Thorn could you explain please.”

“She was attacked by trolls yesterday. Broke into her house and killed the faeries that were watching over her. Ripped a hell of a glamour off of her too.”

“You just found out about faeries yesterday?” Kaye asked her and Nikki nodded her head nervously. “Explains the burns in your ears,” Kaye sighed. “So what exactly are you planning to do with this information? Do you think she’s Nicnevin’s daughter?”

“There's a good chance. Same race, her name is hidden within Nicole’s. I’m not here to try and slap her on Roiben’s throne though. She says that when they left, the trolls stole a necklace from the faeries pretending to be her parents.”

“A necklace,” Kaye asked, worry suddenly working its way into her voice.

“It looked just like yours but...the stone was green and the band was black instead of white.”

Kaye’s hand shot up to her throat. “This is Silarial’s amulet. The one she used to put the glamour on me and switch me with Kate...if you had one just like it...you really were Nicnevin’s heir.”

“But who would know that. Who would want to know where to find her and steal the amulet?”

Kaye went silent as she thought it over. “There’s been A LOT of shit going on in Elfhame lately...the coronation is coming up and Roiben has been all worked up about how we have to be there. Someone could be planning to use that powerful glamour to sneak into the ceremony undetected.”

“Okay, but who Kaye. Who wants the throne bad enough to go to those lengths?”

She was silent again for a long while before she found her answer. “Trolls you said? Anything that stood out about them?”

Thorn looked over to Nicole for an answer but she shrugged her shoulders. “How the fuck should I know?” She spat out. “They blindfolded me and I don’t know what a NORMAL troll looks like to begin with!”

“JUST,” Thorn began loudly before getting his teeth and taking a long breath. “Describe them...please. Anything they were wearing or anything that could give us a clue.”

“Fine…” Nikki sulked. She began shuffling through her memories of the previous afternoon, trying to skip over the images she didn’t want to see. She racked her brain for some semblance of anything that could tell these trolls apart from what she pictured a normal troll would look like before realizing that maybe it wasn't about the trolls, but about what they wore. “Teeth,” she said softly, staring into the table.

“What?” Thorn asked. “I didn’t” he began before she cut him off.

“The trolls they…” she said quickly before trying to slow down and collect her thoughts. “They had like...teeth across their shoulders,” she explained and drew her hands over her shoulder to demonstrate. “Like a string of fangs or something over their jackets. Does that help?”

Thorn looked back to Kaye to find her tapping and her biting her lip, a nervous habit that she had clearly still not grown out of. “The Court of Teeth is in Maine...right across the sea from Elfhame…” she muttered softly. “And they aren't very fond of the high court to boot so...theres a solid chance her attackers are there…”

Nicole turned as Thorn sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. Kaye spoke again, “Look Thorn this is big. If this is all true then this could affect mortal lives as well. Anything could happen if she doesn't get that amulet back or at least destroy it.”

“Can you take my glamour off.”

“Your what?” Nicole asked, shocked by his words. She found her hand slapped against his arm before she could even process the question. “You treated me like shit this whole time for being a faerie and you’re one too!?” She yelled at him before he shoved her away and back into her chair.

“I’m not fae!” He growled back her before he looked back to Kaye. “I’m much worse than that so stop pushing me. How bout it, Kaye?”

“Well, of course, I can but...what do you plan to do? Shouldn’t you hire someone else for this? You can’t just walk into another court unwelcome.”

“Let me worry about that. Taking this off is just a precaution for a while to make sure I can fight off anyone that comes looking for her or for me.”

“Okay…” she sighed. Nicole watched as Kaye raised her hands and the stone in the amulet around her neck began to glow red. The pixie let her eyes drift shut as she reached out across the table and took Thorn's hand. Nicole felt a strange spike of jealousy run through her fingertips as Thorn refrained from pulling away from her touch. ‘Why is it okay when she touches you?’ Nicole thought to herself.

Soon though she saw why as a thin layer of what seemed to be skin lifted off of Thorn's hand and continued all down his arm and his body. His features became even sharper and harsher to look at, his iris’ fading from a murky brown to brown so dark it seemed to be black.

When Kaye let go of his hand the glamour fell to the floor and began to disintegrate as Thorn kept his eyes shut and breathes heavily, seeming to be trying to center himself. She remembered how she felt when her glamour had come off and was surprised by how quiet and calm he was. She had been in such immense pain that she had cried and kicked and screamed at her attackers as it tore off of her. Perhaps it was different when someone lifted it with care instead of tearing it off forcefully?

After a few moments, his eyes opened and she saw as he grit his teeth and ground them together for a moment and he sniffed the air intently. She saw that his k-nines had elongated slightly but other than that he didn’t look much different to her. “You don’t look any different?” Nicole said but Thorn seemed to be ignoring her.

“He’s a werewolf,” Kaye explained for him. “When this glamour comes off of him his senses get dialed to eleven so he needs time to take it all in.”

“Those are real too!?” She yelled out in disbelief before Kaye shushed her with her finger to her lips. “Sorry,” she whispered, looking back to Thorn.

“Why don’t you guys go out into the shop and get some coffee. On the house okay? You have a lot to talk about…”

/

“You dated one didn't you?” Nicole muttered. After ordering their drinks they had sat in near silence at one of the vacant tables for several minutes. She had spent most of the silence trying to get him to play footsies with her but every time she had the idea he kicked her in the shin lightly to get her to stop. She just couldn't help it. She felt like she had no control over anything right now. Not her actions or her desires, not even on a grander scale. She had no control over the situation she was in and she was afraid that if she kept going along with whatever Thorn wanted to do that she would end up in a ditch somewhere. ‘That wouldn't be so bad as long as he's in the ditch with me, right?’ The thought wormed its way through her head and she found she had to force down a smile at the awful thought.

“What makes you think that?” He sighed, finally acknowledging her question. He kept his face down, watching ripples in his coffee cup.

“You were so sweet yesterday before you took me home...and as soon as you found out the faerie in your hallway was me you flipped. Complete one-eighty. That ring is enchanted isn't it?” She nodded toward his finger. “You weren't wearing it when we met. You only put it on when you smelled a faerie coming up your stairs...”

“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for,” He glanced over to the simple black band on his finger before he returned his attention to her. His eyes were alight with new hues and much more black than they had been before his glamour was removed. “Kaye made it for me. It helps me see through basic glamour and keeps me from being enchanted...yes.”

“What was she like...” she asked, though she wasn't sure why. She didn't actually want to hear the answer but she figured that it may help him open up a little if she let him keep talking.

“The folk become bored of love very quickly. Especially with their mortal toys,” he returned his attention to his cup.

“So you are...mortal then?” She wondered aloud.

“Wolves aren't Fae. We are mostly human just...a little extra. I may live a tad longer than your average person but yes. Very mortal.”

“How...how long will I?” She began but stopped short, not sure that she wanted the answer to that question either.

“Hundreds, if not, thousands of years, assuming of course that you survive this little mess you’re in. By the time you die, you’ll hardly be the same person you are now.”

His words stung her ears and she could feel the bite of envy in them. “So how do you know all these faeries anyway? You meet them through your ex?”

“Other way around,” he shook his head. “One of their friends was getting mugged one day and I just happened to be in New York. Took care of it and I’ve been trading favors with them ever since.”

“Mugged? Aren't they all faeries? How do you mug a magical creature?”

“You don’t,” she was surprised to see him flash a short smile. “There are a few humans in their midst. Regular old people that are in on the secrets.”

She watched as he took a long drink from his mug and she wondered what exactly that could mean for her. “You said...’ like you were’ in there. Was Kaye like me?”

“She’s a changeling,” he began. “See Kate over there?” He nodded toward the girl working the counter.

She nodded silently.

“That’s the REAL Kaye,” he emphasized.

“The real one?”

“That girl was named Kaye when she was born and when she was very young she was stolen by the folk,” he said softly and saw Nicole tense up nervously. “They left one of their own in her place, the Pixie Kaye we just talked to. No one knew the difference because they had her glamoured up all nice and tight just like you were. She grew up thinking she was human. When she met Roiben things unfolded and she even was able to track down the real Kaye and give her back to her mother. Of course, her mother couldn't very well have two girls named Kaye and so,” he nodded again, “Kate.”

“And her mother knows..? That she isn't human? Or actually her daughter?”

“Yep. Everything worked out for them.”

“So...favors,” she tried to put everything else out of her mind. “You trade favors with faeries to get what you want?”

“Yep. Worked out so far.”

“So...in there you said that that necklace they stole from me...is magical. Like Kaye’s? It can create those heavy-duty glamours?”

“If held by someone who knows how to control it, yeah.”

“And I’m...the daughter of the last-“ she began but saw him hold up his hand to his lips so she stopped talking. He leaned in to whisper to her across the table.

“Wrong crowd to say that in front of.” He warned so she decided to get right to the point.

“I want to hire you...” she said softly, his eyes came up to meet hers and she felt her head swim for a moment. They were so dark and she couldn't allow herself to get lost in them now. She needed him to take her seriously and if she lost control right now she didn't know what she would do. In front of all these people and faeries, she wasn't sure she could live with the shame that would come afterward.

“For?” He asked quietly and she could swear that he was studying her eyes just as hard as she was his.

“Bring me to the Court that stole my necklace and get it back,” she said confidently but was shocked when he burst out laughing.

“Jesus, what am I an army? We can’t just go take it back. Courts have plenty of knights to fight back with. I’m one guy.”

“So we can do it sneakily. We don’t need to fight them for it, just steal it back!”

“You trying to be indebted to me for the rest of your life? What do you even want it for? You don’t know how to use it and you have no court to rule over.”

“With that glamour on I won't be so...” her head swam again as she absentmindedly reached across the table and took hold of one of his hands. She was shocked when he didn’t pull away, and she pulled his hand up to her face and took a deep long breath through her nose, taking in his scent. The smell was offensive to her but she didn't care. She had held back long enough, hadn’t she? She just needed a little touch. Just one and she would be okay to keep talking.

As she drank in the scent of wet dog she felt his hand tense slightly, though again, he did not pull away. ‘See he wants it to,’ she reasoned silently and closed her eyes, letting out a hot breath from her mouth as it opened wide and she licked up the center of his palm before gently closing her mouth over his pointer finger.

Her legs stretched out under the table, searching for his but before she could find them her eyes flicked open and saw him staring back her. His eyes were devouring her but every inch of his body was tense. He did not have the conviction to tell her to stop but she could tell he was uncomfortable. Her eyes darted around the room and she caught several of the patrons, and Kate especially, glaring at her.

It wasn't until then that she realized exactly what she was doing and she removed his finger from her mouth and let him pull his hand away. As the onlookers returned their attention to their own business she remembered what she was saying. “I won't be like this...” she said softly, the inevitable wave of shame crashing over her. She buried her face in her hands and tried to keep herself from crying. She wanted his help but she wanted to get it on his terms, not by begging and crying for it.

He was silent for a long time and eventually, she had to let her hands down below her eyes and look back to him.

“I don't think that putting that glamour back on would help you much with your urges but...it's worth a shot I guess,” he sighed.

“You'll do it?” Her breath hitched in her throat.

“Depends what you’re offering me in return.”

“Well if I learn to control the magic of the amulet then I could use it on you too!” She said quickly. It wasn't a concrete promise but it may tempt him enough to accept. “You won't need to come to see Kaye just to get your glamour on or off!”

“I don't ever come out here just for that,” he smirked. “I only come out here to do jobs for them and she pulls it off and puts it on while I'm around for those jobs. Still,” he thought aloud. “I can't deny the benefits of having someone nearby to home who could do it instead. Certainly lets me get more business closer to home,” he shrugged. “How do I know you'll stick around though?”

“Where else would I go?” She asked. “I don't know these people. I spent my whole life thinking I was human. I don't belong with a court or anything like that.”

“I mean there are courts closer to home you know but...” he had a thought and she could see it growing on his face. He seemed to let it go though, sighing and shaking his head.

“Fine. You’ve got a deal,” he said holding his hand out to her. She slowly reached up and took hold of his hand and it took everything in her power to simply shake it and let go.

“So how are we getting to Maine?” She asked, the airtight in her lungs as she looked away from him.

“Well, my car is here so we may as well take it. Don't suppose you wanna help out with all the gas you’re costing me,” he said sarcastically but was shocked when her face lit up in realization. “What?”

“My bag is in the car. I've got my wallet and both my parents' wallets. Tell you what. You’re doing a lot more for me than I am for you. If you’ll promise to be nicer to me then I’ll pay our whole way there and back.”

“Nicer to you?” He laughed out.

“Is that gonna be too hard for you?” She smirked her a wicked smile.

“Huggghhh,” he groaned. “Fine fine I’ll be...nicer. But on our way we really need to work on your self-control,” he sighed, standing from his chair as she followed suit. “Either that or you gotta sleep the whole way like you did to get here.”

“With all the iron in your stupid death box I doubt I’ll have the energy to try and seduce you anyway,” she mumbled and followed him out the door. She was thankful that he stopped to pull her door open for her first before going around to his own.

Once in the car she fished out her mother's wallet and pulled a few bills from within and handed them over. “You know,” she coughed out before pulling up his discarded sweater to her face to breathe through it. She was afraid his scent being right in her face would eventually lead to trouble but it was better than choking to death on poisoned air. “You don't really look much different with your glamour off. Why do you wear such a crazy strong one?”

“It’s not for the looks. It’s to keep my senses and...tendencies in check.”

“Tendencies?” She mused through his sweater as he started the car and she had to close her eyes against the burn of the exhaust. “Such as?”

“Wolves...have heightened emotions and...become attached far too easily...”

“Sounds an awful lot like someone’s a hypocrite,” she smiled and watched as her arm betrayed her again and moved. She watched as her fingers traced down his cheek softly before she was able to snatch it away. “Sorry,” she said softly into his shirt before. “Maybe it would be better if I sat in the back...” she thought aloud and looked out the window, watching the huge skyscrapers of New York slide by them. When he didn't seem to register her offer she spoke again, her thoughts lingering on their conversation back in the coffee shop. “What happened between you?”

“Between who?”

“You and your ex,” she said as she continued to look out the window, trying her hardest not to look at him. “Is it cus I look like her that you hate me? Or do you just hate all of us because of something she did?”

He was silent again for a long time and she had nearly resided herself to not getting an answer when he finally spoke up. “You remind me of her...” he muttered in a way that made Nicole think that it wasn’t a good thing.

After that, she decided it would be better to say nothing at all.


	6. Chapter Five

And I wonder where you are  
And I wonder what you wore  
And I'm lost inside a bar  
And I'm drunk inside a war  
And I wonder where you are

-Trocadero, Half-Life

Chapter Five

She was restless. She couldn’t stop writhing in her seat, curling and uncurling herself in discomfort. Shed at least found a bag for her puke in the back seat, where she had moved to after about an hour of feeling sick to her stomach.

Shed lye down across the bench in the back and covered herself in his sweater and another winter coat shed found. Having the window open this deep into fall had kept her freezing but if it had been closed she would probably have suffocated by now.

Her head swam and her stomach lurched again. Her mouth felt sweaty and at this point, she wasn’t sure that she had any more bile to throw up.

She had begged for Thorn to stop several times but every time he had convinced her that the fewer times they stopped the faster this would be over. Every inch of her skin crawled and she wanted nothing more than to just pass out but this time she hadn’t been able to sleep. She figured they had to be more than halfway there by now as they had been on the move for so long it was twilight outside her window.

“Thorn,” she gulped out as she reached around his seat and grabbed onto his shirt. “That's it...I seriously need to get out of this car or I’m going to vomit on you this time. We need to take a break,” she pleaded. If she had felt better her hand would have slid down his torso to try and beg a little harder but she hadn't had the strength for her deviance for the entire trip.

“We’re almost there,” he replied and she noted a slight hint of concern in his voice that she hadn't expected.

“All the way? Really?”

“No. With the condition you're in there's no way we could make the whole trip in one go. I looked for a motel on my phone. We got off the highway like ten minutes ago.”

‘We did?’ She thought to herself. She slowly propped herself up on her elbows to peek out the window to find the driving through a heavily wooded area. “Did I sleep?” She said softly, again surprised when he answered her. It was going to take a long time to get used to the fact that he could hear so well.

“I wouldn't call it sleep,” he said softly. “You passed out for a while but you didn't seem to get much rest.”

Her head was pounding and while she thought it may just be from sticking her head out from the comfort of his sweatshirt when she plunged her face back into it she felt something hard and sharp drag down her exposed forearm that had held onto the small shoulder of the car beneath the window. She immediately smelled the blood that followed and yelped into his sweater before she jumped upright to see what had cut her.

She found nothing though, and after laying down for nearly six hours, jolting up into a sitting position made her vision swim.

“What happened?” He asked as he too began to sniff the air and smell blood. His fingers clenched as the smell rushed through him and he grit his teeth. “Why the fuck are you bleeding?!” He growled out.

“Something in your fucking car cut me!” She yelled back as best as she could, though she noted she was slurring her words on account of being so dizzy. It didn't help that she was now bleeding all over his sweater and all over herself.

“There's nothing sharp back th!-" he began to shout as she saw him turn around in his seat and freeze for a moment. “Don’t move.” He said as he turned back around and stepped on the gas a little. “Tie my sweater around your arm as best you can. How bad is it?”

“Wha...what the fuck was that look for?” She asked before she looked down to her arm and wiped at it, her hand coming away soaked with blood. She felt a little more queezy than she had before now and she wasn't sure how much more sick she could feel before her brain shut down against her will. “Uhmm,” she sighed, voice shaky. “I think it's not too deep but there's...there's a lot of blu-“ she gulped and slumped back into the seat.

“Hey,” he growled again, snapping his fingers at her and opening the back windows of the car to give her more air and let the cold in. The cold air shocked her just enough to keep her eyes open and she felt the car swerve to the right and she fell over in the seat. If he had said anything else though, she hadn't heard him. Something hard hit the plastic of the door when she fell and when the car had stopped and she had righted herself, she saw a small scrape in the plastic below the window.

Thorn was out of the car and opening her door before she had even felt the car stop moving. He hadn't even turned the engine off. Out the door passed him she could see a small building with blinking neon lights and a large glowing sign, but she couldn't make out what any of it said. She saw him looking down at her and felt his hands on her shoulders, then her waist as he sat her upright in the seat. She thought he might be yelling at her again but his voice was so far away she couldn't quite match the words to his lips.

His lips. His full, red, lonely lips. They would look so much better with another pair connected to them, wouldn't they? She watched them move as he leaned over her and grabbed for his bloody sweater before he took hold of her arm and lay it across her lap, forearm up.

She couldn't take her eyes off of them, despite not being able to form the sounds coming out into words. She felt his fingers brush against her arm as he tied the knot on her arm and she could swear there was something in his face. Not just anger, which some small part of her mind understood. She had made a mess after all but no, something else. His eyes were wide and not hard at all, despite how much he was yelling to keep her awake. Beyond his lips, she could see his tongue and watched as it flicked over his pronounced k-nines over and over again.

Hunger, she realized. He was just as hungry for her as she was for him. She bet that he was thinking about her lips too. And then she was moving and in only a breath her lips were on his. Her eyes drifted closed and she let out a long hum, smiling while she kissed him.

Despite how fierce his looks were and how rough a person he had been so far toward her, his lips were soft. Her eyes crept open slowly to find that he was staring back at her, stunned by her action. Darkness began to crowd in around the edges of her vision, and just as she began to lose consciousness she thought she may have felt him kissing her back.

//

When she woke it was dark and her eyelids were heavy. She had no strength, even unable to prop herself up to look around the room. She rolled over as best she could and began to hear running water coming from a room away. She was in a dumpy motel room with a twenty-year-old television set, two beds and curtains, and carpets that smelled of mold. “What happened,” she mumbled to herself, raising her arms to wipe her eyes out. One of them felt tight, and when she was able to see she found that her right arm had been wrapped up with what seemed to be a hand towel underneath a ripped and bloodied fabric, tied up in a noose that she thought might be the drawstring of a hooded sweater.

It was tied so tight that her hand felt tingly from lack of blood flow, but she supposed that that was better than bleeding out. Then she realized where the fabric had come from. She could feel the blankets directly on her chest and realized that the bloody fabric on her arm was what was left of the shirt she had been wearing.

Thorn must have torn it off of her while she was passed out. “Her shirt,” she realized slowly. These clothes she was borrowing were all he had left his ex-girlfriend and she had bled all over them. She still didn't know what she had cut herself on either. She couldn't quite remember how deep the wound was but she was sure it would have been better to stitch it, not that she knew how to sew and she doubted very much that he did either.

“Thorn,” she whispered out toward the dimly lit room but she got no answer. She could hear him shuffling around in what she expected was the bathroom and water was still running. She rolled onto her side and used her good arm to try and push herself up out of the bed but soon found she still couldn't quite manage it. Instead, she rolled to the edge of the bed and simply, rolled right out of it, her legs barely catching her as her feet hit the floor. She staggered and fell sideways into the opposite bed and steadied herself before slowly heading toward the bathroom. Halfway there, she had to move to the wall and lean into it for support. She was so dizzy she could barely see straight, the whole room seemed to wobble but for some reason, she felt that apologizing to Thorn was more important than slowing down for a breath.

Her mind would change quickly when she finally reached the door frame of the bathroom and turned inside. Where she had expected to see Thorn fuming about his ruined clothes, she instead found a massive black wolf staring out the small window of the grimy tiled room. It was nearly as tall as she was even though it was on all fours, his fur a shadowy black that made him look almost like an illusion combined with how dizzy she was. She watched as it turned its head toward her and began to sniff the air, large black eyes pulling her attention. “Thorn,” she gasped, panic rising in her voice as she began to back away. He followed her and she could hear a growl bubbling up in his throat as he snarled at her.

It was only then that she could feel how cold the room was around her and the fact that she could feel a draft. Their door was still cracked open and she was still topless. He must have rushed her inside and gotten her to bed before transforming.

“Hungry,” she breathed out, beginning to recall what had happened before she passed out. He hadn't been hungry for her lips as she had been for his. He wasn't starving for her touch as she had thought. He was hungry for HER. She tripped over backward and began crawling away from him backward as he advanced on her slowly. “Thorn,” she pleaded softly. “I’m sorry. I,” she stopped, realizing she had no idea what to say to try and calm him down. That is if there was anything that could calm him at this point. She watched in horror as he followed her every move before her back hit the wall and he kept coming. Eventually, he was over her and she could feel his breath on her throat and down her chest and her urges flared up. It took every ounce of concentration to keep her completely fried mind on the task of survival. Part of her wanted to let him eat her. The part that wanted him to touch her in any way he wanted screamed out for it, uncaring as to whether it was sexual or malicious.

‘I can’t scream or we are both going to get found out...and if I do nothing he is going to kill me. Think!’ Her mind raced. “I’m sorry Thorn,” is all she could come up with. There was no way out of this that she could see without hurting him. Maybe she should have taken more time at the coffee shop so Kaye could teach her to use her powers more.

‘Magic,’ she thought to herself quickly and raised her hands to just under Thorn’s heaving chest and tried to picture his human form. All she wanted right now was to see his face, hear him yelling at her, scorning her for ruining his backseat and his clothes. Anything but this. She shut her eyes tight and waited to feel the sting of his fangs in her throat but when it came, his bite was surprisingly gentle. Her hands reached up for his fur and instead, they met skin, her fingers wrapped over his shoulders.

A shiver rocked down her spine as his lips pressed into her throat around his teeth before she opened her eyes. Thorn had returned to normal just as she had wanted but she wasn't exactly sure how she had accomplished it. “Quick thinking,” he said softly into her ear and she could feel him shivering through the tips of her elongated fingers. “Thank you,” he said again as he moved to pull back from her but he felt her nails sink into his back.

He was right where she had wanted him to be for two days now. Pinning her to the wall and floor, nude, and he had even pressed a kiss to her neck. How could she ever let him go now? Her eyes flicked over his body as she took in the sight and felt the heat run through her veins. Injured or not, door open or closed, she would have this, and in this exact moment, she wasn't sure that she would prefer it any other way. She wrenched him back down to her and pulled his lips back to her throat as her weak arm moved up and she ran a hand through his hair.

Her body was on autopilot at this point and her mind had no objections with anything she was trying to do. She felt his lips mash into her neck again and was surprised when his teeth returned to her skin, gently nipping at the base of her throat.

His hands were on her then. Up from the floor they came, one on her hip and the other on her cheek. Her nails dredged down his back and she heard him grunt in what she decided was pleasure, ignoring that it may be pain instead. This time it was her lips that moved to his shoulder and she began slowly kissing her way up toward his lips. When she got within an inch of his lips though she felt him squeeze her hip before he moved his fingers from her cheek to her throat.

He didn’t squeeze, but he did hold her back and she could see him biting his lips so hard that he managed to draw blood. “Stop,” she let out in worry, her fingers moving to his lips and coming away bloody. His eyes were closed tight and she was worried that she had hurt him somewhere along the line. Before she could try to console him though he was up and on his feet. The moment was over and he had turned away from her and headed back toward the bathroom. “Wha...what the hell?!” She exclaimed, pushing herself up to her feet before her dizziness returned as she fell to the side and into her bed. “Thorn!” She shouted at him. That caused him to stop in the doorway of the bathroom and look back to her over his shoulder. She could see the lines of raw red skin where her nails dragged down his muscles back and for a moment, she admired her work.

“Thank you for changing me back,” was all he said before heading into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him, leaving Nicole an even hotter mess than she had been before.

It was another twenty minutes before he emerged from the bathroom. An agonizingly long time for Nicole, still shaking with desire for several minutes while he was gone. She had at least made her way to shut the front door and back to her bed at that time and found a pile of clothes on the other bed. They weren't exactly clean, she could smell, but they weren't bloody either. She had pulled on a t-shirt that stank of Thorn’s scent and elected to stay in the leggings she had been wearing for the past day, even with the faint scent of blood in them. She figured that Thorn had brought the clothes from his car as she could smell the metal beast on them. When he returned he had padded to the bed and dressed in front of her without sparing her a glance. He only looked at her when he finally sat down and she hoped he was going to give some closure to their encounter.

He was staring at the top of her head though. Not her eyes nor any other part of her she yearned to feel his gaze on. “What are you looking at,” she huffed before raising her hands toward her head but she was surprised when his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

“Slowly,” he said gently. “Don’t need you cutting yourself again,” he let go of her hand and she continued up toward the crown on her head more carefully.

When her hands hit something solid instead of hair she froze in fear. “What the fuck,” she began to panic and stood. She bolted for the bathroom and if she had had time to be she’d have been thankful that the room had stopped spinning. When she rounded the corner and looked into the mirror above the sink her eyes widened and she felt Thorn come into the room behind her. “Horns,” she breathed out.

Over the restless hours of sleep in the back of Thorn’s car a set of thin branching horns had grown out of the crest of her forehead, like those of an antelope. She ran her hands up and down them and yelped when one of them pricked her finger. They were sharp and even had little barbs in a few places, one of them had a long red stain on it and she finally realized that that was what tore her arm up. “I’m a monster,” she gasped.

“They are just horns,” he began but was cut off when she spun around.

“No wonder you hate touching me,” she pushed by him and back out into the room. “Who would want to be anywhere close to a fucking gross person like this,” she sulked and he thought he may have heard her breath hitch.

“Don't take it so personally,” he muttered. “I don’t wanna touch anybody.” That seemed to only piss her off more though and she spun again to tell him so, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better!? Just shut up! I get it okay! You’re just here so we can get the necklace back. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain if that's all you want then leave me the fuck alone,” she said before she climbed back into bed and buried herself in the blankets.

She heard him sigh and listened as he crossed the room, turned out all the lights and climbed into the other bed. After that, the only sound she heard for the rest of the night was the sound of her own pathetic whimpering.

/

The next morning they said nothing to each other. She simply followed him out to the car and got into the back by covering her hand in cloth to open the door, rather than wait for him to do it for her. This time she had had time to create a nest out of the blanket she had brought from his apartment and the rest of the stray coats and hoodies in the car. She figured he kept them around for colder days at work but she didn’t ask. She just bundled up and buried herself in them, her horns creating a small tent underneath the blanket. The back windows were cracked and she did everything she could to ignore the scents of fumes, iron, blood, and Thorn. The last one surprisingly turned out to be the hardest to ignore for her. Over all the iron and gasoline she found his scent nearly inescapable wrapped up in his clothes and blanket. At least it didn’t make her want to hurl as the other three smells did, instead, it made her feel guilt and shame enough for two.

Every time a song about love or envy came on his radio she felt her heart wrench, trying to shrivel up and hide as much as she wanted to. Why did she have to make that stupid promise? She could have promised him anything in return for this but she had stupidly promised to stay nearby to someone who wanted nothing to do with her.

The only time he did speak up was to ask her what she wanted for lunch and she hadn't responded. Though she was thankful when a hot paper bag was placed on top of her nest and she worked it into her grasp without exiting the cocoon. Cheeseburger and fries, can’t go wrong with that, except that it was all she had eaten yesterday too and she thought if she ate the burger she would go right back into vomiting like she had yesterday. She snacked on the fries silently for a while before nodding off. She had done a lot of sleeping lately but enough never seemed to be enough. She couldn’t imagine that Thron felt much better than she did. Of course, he wasn’t injured like she was. She had been given more scraps of the ripped up tank top and after a few hours, she had replaced her cast of fabric and string as best she could without asking him to stop and help.

“Yo,” she eventually heard, causing her to stir in her half-asleep haze. “You alive back there.”

“Why do you care…” she groaned, muffled by the blankets. “If I die in this stupid car you get to go home and forget about all this.” She didn’t mean to put so much bite into her words but she couldn’t help it. She was so angry with herself that the only thing to do was take it out on the next available target.

“We are only like an hour away but I thought you might want a break and some real food.”

‘Real food?’ She shot up in her seat, the blanket caught on her small antlers until she gently picked it off of her face, careful not to let the spikes tear a hole in it. She didn’t need to owe him any more than she already did. “Yes,” she let out shyly, finding him looking back at her through the rearview mirror. “Please.”

“No need to beg, your paying remember?” He smirked to himself and heard her huff.

“Yeah yeah I know,” she sulked and looked out the window, finding the ground covered with a fresh blanket of snow. The roads were a total mess and suddenly she felt bad for spending the entire ride quietly in the back. “How long has it been snowing?”

“Since noon.”

“You’ve been driving in this shit for five hours?” She asked. “You could have stopped somewhere.”

“Not afraid of a little snow,” he shrugged. “Never bothered me,” he said as he pulled off the road into the parking lot of what looked to be a large bar.

“Really? A bar?” Was all she could muster.

“Everyone in there is so drunk that they might not see whatever shitty glamour you can come up with,” he laughed. “Unless you’d rather stay in the car?”

Well, he already knew the answer to that question. So as they parked he turned around and opened the camera on his cell phone and held it out for her to look into her reflection. “So, like I’m sure you did last night, picture what you want to look like and then lower your expectations. You’re not going to look like you did as a human but you can minimize the important things like pointed ears and your horns, eyebrows and skin color too.”

Nicole did as she was told and began to feel sparks in her hands. She lifted her fingers to her face, dragging them around the area she needed to focus on. The skin on her face began to fade back to white from its new grey-blue state and her eyebrows shrunk back to fit on her forehead as normal. Next, her ears shrunk but only a little, at least they were rounded instead of pointed.

Her horns were stubborn though, taking more than one try to get them to fade from her reflection. “Not bad," he admitted. “You almost look human. Don’t forget your hands, you can do makeup and shit too if you want.”

She hadn’t thought of that. After whitening up her hands and fingers she set to work taking the dark circles out from under her eyes, restored some color to her pale cheeks and even decided to change her lips to the blue of her eyes with matching eye shadow.

“Wow,” she smiled into her reflection but was interrupted when Thorn took his phone away.

“You see why I’m so careful? Faeries can’t speak lies but they are more than capable of telling them in other ways.”

“I suppose we can…” she replied softly, not having expected him to be humoring her after her behavior last night, or at all today. “Thorn I,” she began but he was already opening his door and out of the car before she could finish her sentence.

She followed of course after she pulled on one of the coats from the nest she had made and made sure to fish out some cash from one of the wallets she had brought.

The building seemed old. Blackened wooden planks built up the outside and the neon lights advertising what was on tap glowed in the night sky brilliantly. As soon as they opened the door they were assaulted by music from what sounded like a live band and she was a bit surprised when Thorn turned to her.

“Don’t touch anything, don’t look at anybody, don’t do anything but eat.”

“What am I your fucking kid?” She shot back at him. “I’ve been dying in your car for two days now and you let me out just to give me more rules? Fuck you!” She barged past him and into the crowd, headed for the bar. After a few moments, she found a seat and sat down, annoyed by how quickly he had followed her.

He sat down beside her and when the bartender came over they ordered what they hoped was on the menu and were relieved when she didn’t ask any questions. Nicole could see in Thorn’s face that he wasn’t comfortable with her decision to sit at the bar. To many eyes she thought was probably what he was worried about. The whole building was jumping with the beat of the music and the crowds stopping feet. Out on the dance floor was a sea of people stepping in time with the band and Nicole wanted in. She didn't realize how quickly she would get her chance.

“I need to hit the men's room. Stay here,” he almost sounded pleading.

“Yeah whatever go,” she replied without looking over to him. She felt him go and before long she was swinging along with the music. When the bartender came back with their drinks she took a long swig from her beer bottle. It sucked, but the buzz was almost immediate on such an empty and inexperienced stomach. She had a high tolerance for weed but not at all for alcohol. She had barely ever touched the stuff but right now she needed to take the edge off. It tasted like shit but the way it made her head swim made her forget all about Thorn and his shitty attitude. She hit the bottle again as the bartender spoke up.

“Slow down kid it’s not a race.”

“Bring him another, I’m paying anyway,” she stuck her tongue out at the older woman who just shrugged and went off to fill another glass. One more swig and she was on her feet headed for the dance floor, bottle in hand. It tasted of oranges and the way it cooled her off was like nothing she had ever had before.

She waded into the crowd and began to swing to the music. She needed to let off steam somehow after this awful road trip. She spent two days pent up in a box that she was too tall to stretch out in and she needed to move. Jumping around on a dance floor sounded amazing and her joints screamed in agreement as she danced.

“Hey little lady,” she heard from behind her as a hand landed on her shoulder. She spun around and was shocked to find Thorn looking across the short distance between them. “Looks like you could use a partner,” he said with a crooked smile.

“I would love one,” she slurred back to him. She set her empty bottle down on a nearby table and took hold of his hands, placing them at her hips as her’s went around the back of his neck. She began swaying in time with him and when she rested her head on his chest she drank in the sweet smell of the beer she had been drinking from his clothes.

How had he managed to get drunk so fast after leaving the bathroom? She had only been gone a few minutes and she doubted he had caught up to her that quickly. She was able to shoo the thoughts away rather quickly though as she fell deeper and deeper into the haze of being allowed to touch him for once. She was grateful that he seemed to refuse to speak. While some small part of her did enjoy the sick pleasure of him yelling at her she was thankful that he had just shut his mouth and let her do what she would.

She looked up again and saw his lips, lonely as ever, curled into a sort of dazed smile. She thought he must just be having such a great time with her that he couldn’t help but feel drunk with pleasure. She had to kiss them. How could she not? They needed it after all and she could practically hear them begging for it. She stretched up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his and waited for him to pull away. He didn’t. He kissed her back as if it was all he had ever wanted in his entire life. His tongue swept her mouth and she nearly jumped in surprise. Her tongue fought back and they continued to kiss each other until Nikki began to realize something was wrong. His teeth weren’t as sharp or as long as they had been the last time. He tasted of beer and sweat and after a few moments, it began to sour the joy of the kiss. Thorn’s words flashed through her mind. ‘People won’t be able to resist you,’ she thought. 'You’ll want things and people will be more than happy to give them to you.'

“But you will,” she said softly as she pulled back and locked eyes with him. They were the dullest green eyes she had ever seen in her life. Her eyes shot down to his fingers on her hips and were shocked to find them bare. “Where’s your ring?” She asked, taking his hand in hers, and that was when she heard it.

“Nicole!” She spun at the sound of her name. It was more of a growl than a human voice, and she found Thorn standing ten feet or so behind her with a scowl on his lips, teeth bared in anger. She gave him a confused look before turning around to find that the man in her arms now looked much older and very un-Thorn like. He was shorter than she was and had long grey hair surrounding his well-worn face. He was still in a daze, kissing the air in front of him as if she hadn’t pulled back. She jumped back in shock and felt a hand on her wrist as Thorn yanked her through the crowd. She found that several people were staring at her and before she knew it they were out the door and back into the cold of the night.


	7. Chapter Six

Snow drifts build up and enfold us  
As we wait out this winter storm  
So we snuggle close in the darkness  
And keep each other so warm

-Owl City, Tip of the Iceberg

Chapter Six

She was almost thankful for the blustering wind and snow outside in the cold of the night. It served her nicely to cool her down from the hot and sweaty crowd inside and let her thoughts slow down.

“I told you to stay at the bar!” He barked at her after checking that there was no one around to hear him scold her.

“What did I...why was that guy you…he looked just like you!” She said, a little horror in her voice.

“You glamoured him.” He sounded pissed. His words had such a bite to them that for a moment Nikki considered that he may be jealous of seeing her make out with somebody else. Even if that somebody else was him.

“I didn’t...I couldn't have!” She began. “I didn't do anything he was just there!”

“It wasn't a perfect copy. And you couldn't tell the difference until you had your tongue down his throat. All faeries are the fucking same. You just turned that guy into me so you could have your little fantasy become real,” he shook his head and pointed toward the car. “Go.”

“Thorn I’m sorry!” She yelled, grabbing onto his arm. If she wasn't terrified of herself before she was now. Could she really have used another person to live out her fantasy with Thorn? Her stomach lurched at the thought of the possibility. “I thought he was you!” her face was flushed out in the cold and even through her nearly purple skin Thorn would be able to see her cheeks reddening.

“Why does that make you think it’s okay!?” He shot back. “I told you that this is how being a faerie is like. You convince people that you love them and then you fuck off when you get what you want. I don’t expect anything from you but the least you could do is try not to get us hunted down like witches!” now he didn't just look pissed. He sounded like it too. The way he bit off his words and his tone were enough to make Nicole want to run and hide. But where could she go exactly? It's not like she had anywhere to go home too.

That was it. She had bottled up her feelings for too long now and she had just found where the line was. Her hand flew up without her thinking and a clap echoed through the parking lot as it connected with his cheek. Thorn went silent and she noted that he didn’t recoil much, though he did look surprised. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as her thoughts boiled over.

“I didn’t ask for this!” She finally yelled back at him, trying as hard as she could to not choke on her tears. “I didn’t ask for monsters to break into my house and kill my fucking parents! Or turn me into this freak!” She gestured to herself. “I didn't ask for you to be so fuckin nice to me when we met or for any of your help! I didn't ask you to decide I wasn't worth being nice to or even decent too after I changed! None of it!” She screamed toward the pavement. She was afraid that if she looked him in the eyes right now she wouldn't be able to get the words out before drowning in her tears. “I am sorry that this is so fucking inconvenient for you! I’m sorry I even fucking met you! How was I supposed to know that the nice guy that gave me a ride home and seemed to be into me would turn out to be such a fucking asshole!” She paused for breath, “when all I needed was somebody to tell me that everything was going to be okay!” She yelled as she finally looked back up into his face.

The guilt and shame written on it were more than enough to make the tears fun and she began to hyperventilate. “I don't give a shit what happened with your last girlfriend. I’m not her! And if this is how you treat the people you date then I don't ever want to be HER!” She bit out.

“I don't have any family, any friends. Nobody! The one person,” she pointed to him, “that I trusted to come to and all you’ve done is yell at me for having fucking feelings for you. I just accidentally turned another guy into you because somewhere deep down I thought maybe there was still a chance that you would like me!” She laughed hysterically. “What a stupid idea that was. Who could ever want something to do with such an ugly fucking monster right!?” She shouted.

She didn’t know what she expected him to say but when he didn’t say anything at all it only made her angrier.

“Say something!” She yelled through tears and moved to smack him again, but this time he caught her hand and held it tight. She tried to wrench away but after a few tugs, she gave up and let her arm go slack. “I’ll let you out of the deal if that’s what you want…” she cried. “You’ll never have to look at me again. I won’t come back I” she began but found her words cut off when she felt his arms go around her. Soon she was in his grasp arms by her sides and limp as he held her there in the cold.

He was so warm. Warmer than she had ever remembered his touch being and the way that his body enveloped hers was everything she had ever dreamed it would be. She had no more words left. Her throat was horse and dried out and she couldn't stop crying. All the images of her monstrous parents in a bloody pool on their kitchen floor had wormed their way to the front of her mind and they weren’t going away anytime soon.

Rather than wrap her arms around him she wormed them up between them and grabbed hold of the front of his shirt against his chest and let the tears flow. She hadn't realized how many she had been holding back the past few days but all at once the gates were open. “Say something,” she whimpered again through short and quick breaths. “Tell me I’m being selfish or stupid!” She tried to push away from him but he held on even tighter, pressing her face back into his shirt. She thought her horns may have caught him in the face but if they did all he let out was a small grunt of displeasure before acting like it never happened. She felt his hand at her back, running up and down her spine softly as she listened to his breaths.

“Let it out,” was all he finally managed to say. Who was she to deny that request? All she wanted to do was cry and she had after all asked for someone to comfort her. So she cried. Minute after minute slid by as they stood out in the cold and all Nicole did was cry.

After the tears had finally stopped and she had spent another few minutes cradled in his arms, drinking in his warmth he finally spoke again. “Here,” he said as she felt him slip the car keys into her hand. “I'll go grab our food to go alright?” He sighed as he let go of her.

“Okay,” she replied softly and watched as he turned away. As she began to walk though she saw him stop and turn back to her and she froze for a moment. His cheek indeed had a fresh prick from her horns but his expression almost looked kind. “Everything IS going to be okay,” he insisted. “We made a deal and I will do everything I can to complete it.”

She wanted to smile but her face was numb from the cold and her muscles felt sluggish from sobbing for so long. She must look ridiculous to him right now. Bright blue eyes outlined in red from crying, half blue half white skin underneath a heavy winter hoodie she was sure that only some of her glamour had faded. She was still pretty tipsy too and she felt foolish walking alone to the car without someone to lean on for balance.

Once settled in the car she started it and cracked the windows. She was already cold so what was the point of keeping them closed when she could hardly breathe. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and when Thorn made it back to the car he passed her meal to her through the window but Nicole spoke up before he could get in himself. “Would you...can you…” she began. She didn’t want to sound as if she was begging but as she looked down into her lap in silence she lost the rest of her words.

He seemed to understand though and she heard him tug on her door handle and watched as he squeezed his long legs into the backseat to join her. A small smile tugged at her now chapped and cold lips and she opened up the blanket to let him inside. She was surprised to see him smirk and laugh a little to himself before sliding over and joining her as she draped the blanket around his far shoulder. They stayed just that way as they ate and even when they had finished she was happy that he stayed beside her for a few minutes. “I’m sorry I said all those thi,” she began but he held up a hand and cut her off.

“Don't apologize,” he sighed before he ran his hand through his hair and down his face. “You didn’t do anything wrong…”

“I mean I...kinda sorta raped a guy,” she joked, surprised she still had enough energy for humor.

“I don’t think he minded very much, to be honest,” Thorn joked back.

She was silent as she chose her next words very carefully. “Did you?... Mind?” She asked softly.

Thorn sighed for a long while as she tried to decipher the look on his face. “Look Nicole I’m...I have been a real dick to you and I am sorry for that but...it’s because I just...am not ready to get involved with another fae right now.”

“But you were ready to get involved with a normal human girl?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Like I said. Cute girl walks out of the woods and I’m headed home anyway? Why wouldn’t I give you a ride?”

“Why wouldn’t you assume that that girl walking out of the woods was a faerie? Since you have so much experience with them.”

“Because thinking that everyone on Earth is out to get you isn’t a healthy way to live your life,” he shrugged.

She paused again to think about his words. “So what if I had seen you again huh? What if I never had my glamour ripped off. Would you have told me that you were a wolf? Or just hidden it from me?”

“Well, I can’t very well lie about it. I smell like dog all the time and golf course employees don’t often take multi-day business trips to New York to do dirty work for Faeries.”

“I guess that’s true…” she admitted.

“Look...wolves have...heightened desires just as much as faeries do. Maybe even more so. I have known my entire life that I was a wolf and have had time to learn to control myself. You haven’t. I’m not saying that I don’t believe that you like me I just...I can’t take the chance right now that you’ll get bored…”

“Last night…” she realized. “You must have carried me in and gotten soaked in blood. You were trying to wash yourself off after getting me settled when you lost control...right?”

“Yeah…” he replied solemnly. “I guess if you were just some human girl then you wouldn’t have been able to save yourself by changing me back.”

“If I was some normal human girl we wouldn’t be all the way out here in this mess…” she said dryly. The more she thought about it the worse she felt. “I’m sorry for ruining the clothes she left behind...and your hoodie and...your life,” she chuckled at the last item on the list and was happy when he laughed with her.

“You haven’t ruined my life yet...if I’m not careful I may yet allow you to. Come on we gotta get going. We are almost there,” he sighed before shuffling away from her but was surprised when he felt her lips on his cheek. It was fleeting, only for a moment and when he looked back he found her digging her nails into her forearms as if trying to pinch herself back to reality. He reached down and placed his hand on hers and felt her fingers relax. “You don’t have to do that...okay?”

She let out a shaky breath and nodded her head slowly as he let her go and left the backseat. Once settled back into the front seat he felt the car jostling a little and looked over to find her climbing through the car and into the passenger seat.

“See,” she said happily. “It doesn’t have to be hard to be nice,” she smiled across to him as she sat down, the blanket still draped around her.

He smiled to her softly flicked the heat on, “who said that that was easy?”

/

"So what's it like anyway?" She asked, breaking the silence that had come over the car as it trudged through the snow. While Thorn's phone had said they were only an hour away the snow had slowed them down significantly now. The drifts were deep and it was getting very late. Our in the back roads of Maine there weren't many plows. No houses around so no priority to get them cleared.

"What's what like?" He asked absent-mindedly. He hadn't meant to go quiet but he had been focusing all his attention on not wrecking his car on a guard rail or a tree.

"Being a wolf? Like how is it different for you?"

He fell silent again for a moment before he felt her gaze on him. He did his best to not show his disinterest in answering the question.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to I just...It would be nice to not be focusing on my own shit for a few minutes you know?"

He rolled his eyes at her attempted guilt trip. "Talking about my bullshit isn't gonna be much better you know…but if you must know," he sighed, "it's not great."

"What? Why?" She wasn't sure why she was surprised to hear that from him exactly. She certainly didn't like being a faerie so why did she expect him to like what he was?

"It's extremely rare that I have a reason to transform and it's very hard to control myself in that form. I almost ate you last night ya know?" He said lightheartedly and she wished he was kidding.

"But you didn't. You hesitated long enough for me to figure out what to do. Does that not count for anything?"

"Playing with my food," he shrugged. " I wouldn't credit me with anything positive in that situation."

"Hm," she smiled and bit her lower lip before speaking again, "I don't know about that. I wish you had played with your food a little more," she giggled before she reached for his arm and was quickly swatted at.

"Can we not do that while I'm trying not to crash, " he smirked and gestured out into the snow through the windshield.

She pouted and let her shoulders slump before she rolled over in her seat a little and lay across the front seat, head rested in his lap. This time she was careful enough to keep from hitting her horns into anything too hard or him on her way down. "Will you make it up to me if I do?" She winked up at him.

"Nic look I…" he began before a horrid noise tore through the silence. A horrible squealing cried out from Thorn's car as it began to move slower and slower through the snow-capped off with a loud snap. Then all was quiet aside from the windshield wipers and the car rolled slowly to a stop and she saw him lean his head forward into the steering wheel and sigh. "Why now man…" he whined in disbelief.

"What the hell was that?" She asked as she sat up back in her seat. Outside his lights shone into the blizzard and she saw that he had pulled over as best he could among the snowdrifts.

"Drive belt I think...car's not going anywhere," he sighed as he turned the key and shut the engine off, followed by the lights.

"You can't fix it? What the hell are we gonna do? We can't call anyone to come to get us!" She began to panic. How was she supposed to survive an entire night in this metal cage?

"We'll spend the night in the car I guess. Call someone when it stops snowing or if a plow comes by maybe they'll stop," he said as he pulled a lever by his left hip and his seat reclined.

"We're in the middle of nowhere? We are gonna freeze in here if we sleep in the car!"

"I won't" he shrugged. "You can have all the blankets and shit and the heat will linger for a little while at least," he shrugged as he pulled his phone off the cord connecting it to the radio and began scrolling.

She was silent as she thought to herself for a few moments. Maybe Thorn would survive the night but there's no way that she could keep herself warm enough out in this to sleep, much less live through the night. He had been really nice to her since she had exploded on him so maybe if she... "I know how you can make it up to me," she said softly with a scheming smile and pointed toward the vacant back seat.

He lifted an eyebrow and looked back to where she was pointing. "How's that?" He asked before he thought he figured it out. "Did you not hear anything I said about being ready for that?"

"Go, you are gonna share your warmth with me, wolf boy," she kept on grinning as he looked her up and down. She couldn't imagine she looked very appetizing but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing right now. She wasn't asking for sex, she just needed him to lay down with her to keep her warm.

"That is an incredibly bad idea."

"I mean it's either that or I crawl in your lap in the front seat and I think you'd probably rather lay down right?"

He sighed again, "fine, god." He pulled his chair back up and climbed into the backseat and arranged the blankets before she watched as he pulled his shirt off and even began to unbutton his pants before he caught her staring in shock. "What?"

"Why are you getting naked!?"

This time it was his turn to give a mischievous smirk. He had thought she wanted him to lose his clothing but it was sort of a relief to find out that she hadn't expected him to do it. "I can't sleep comfortably with clothes on. Are you complaining?"

"No!" She yelled far too quickly. "No it's...fine." she watched as he lay down across the bench before he held up the blanket for her to join him in the dark. She shucked off the jacket she had borrowed and left on her borrowed t-shirt before she stripped off her two days worn leggings. She slipped into the blanket with Thorn and was shocked at how warm it already was below the blanket with him. "Good lord man how are you this warm." She found her arms raised up and against his chest as they had been so briefly the night before and quickly she had forced her legs to entwine with his. She was shocked when one of his arms went around her and his legs parted for her.

"Wolves are warm. It's a thing," she felt him sigh as her fingertips pressed into his chest. "you gonna make it through the night without turning me into your favorite celebrity crush?" He laughed.

"Not funny," she gave a fake smile before her eyes locked with his. She could see in the dark now after all and she suspected that he could as well. Her bright blue eyes almost seemed to shine in the night and she could see their reflection in his cold dark black ones. "I've been sleeping for almost the entire trip so I'm really not that tired...are you?"

"I could sleep," he admitted. "But…" he trailed off.

"But you don't trust me enough to let your guard down…" she finished for him and she let her eyes fall to his throat. "I don't blame you...I wouldn't either."

"You'll get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to being around a person that doesn't trust me."

"Not that," he rolled his eyes. "I mean you'll get used to being a fae." She took a few moments to think before speaking again.

"Earlier you said that...wolves have heightened desires too...but you got used to them?"

"I got used to dealing with it...yeah. It's not like that means it's easy for me to control myself but it is possible. That thing you do, pinching your arms. It'll help but it's not going to work forever. Especially cus I think you actually enjoy pain a little bit," he laughed.

"So what if I do?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing I'm not judging or anything."

"You better not be," she grinned as she dragged her nails down his chest and toward his stomach. "Cus I think you liked it too."

As her hand moved farther and farther down his stomach she became a little concerned that he may not stop her advance this time, but became disappointed when she found his hand waiting for her at his waist. "Nicole," he said softly and she returned her eyes to his.

"Yes?" She asked softly, though no more words came. He lay in silence, fingers entwined with her own as they looked into each other's eyes. "Did you hate it?" She finally asked.

"...No," he answered. "No, I didn't."

"So you like the things I do you just don't like...me…" her vision fell to his chest as sulked. "It's because I don't look like the girl who walked out of the woods right...it's because I look like a mons-," she began but was unable to finish her question.

"That's not why. I already told you why."

"All people aren't the same! Surely not all faeries are the same too! You just keep pushing me away because I'm ugly no-" but her words became cut off by the press of his finger to her lips. She looked back up at him and waited for him to speak.

"I told you I can't take the chance. I have no problem being friendly with you because after I've been such an asshole you deserve at least that much. It isn't you…"

"It's not you, it's me? Really? That's what you're going with?" She sighed in disbelief. "Whatever…" she sighed before rolling over and pressing her back against his chest. After a moment she pressed her butt back into his pelvis as well and felt him jump a little. She wanted to comment on it but decided it would be better to say nothing at all and close her eyes. Still, she was thankful that his arm remained around her, tucked nicely under her bust to keep his body wrapped around hers.


	8. Chapter Seven

I've been trying to do it over  
Find a way to get myself to you  
You're my lucky four-leaf clover  
You know that I'd go back to you  
I could watch you while you're sleeping  
Until the world doesn't seem to move  
Take a photo while you're dreaming  
I want to be buried next to you

-City Girl, Motionless

Chapter Seven

Cold. Freezing even. Her teeth were chattering and no matter how far she buried herself into the covers or how much she tossed and turned she couldn't find her way back into Thorn's warmth. Finally, she opened her eyes and the last edges of sleep left her mind and she realized the truth. He wasn't there. She sat up and looked all around the car and found that she was alone and there was a very large draft of air behind her. The door was open and her legs were even powered with fresh snow.

"Thorn," she said softly, voice cautious. "Thorn!" She yelled out the door and into the snow as she backed away from the opening and further into the car. He didn't answer. Nothing did. All she got back were the sounds of the wind. She looked down to the floor and saw his cell phone there with his clothing as if he hadn't had time to grab them before leaving. Her heart began to race and she tried to concentrate on getting warm.

How long had they slept before he left? It was still dark outside and she couldn't see the moon through the storm clouds. "Thorn this isn't a funny joke come on!" She yelled out into the night and when she again received no answer she began to pull on her leggings and his coat followed by the heavy Carhartt boots she had seen in his backseat several days ago. They were monstrously too big for her but it was better than trudging through two feet of snow in her heeled booties.

Then she was out in the snow, car door shut behind her and keys shoved into her pocket. She could hardly see with all the flakes buzzing around her face but what she could see was a line of deep footprints leading into the trees. She tried her best to step in then as she went, happy for once that she was so tall so she could reach each print without jumping.

Then they stopped. Only a few dozen feet into the pine Forest the deep footprints stopped dead and there was no Thorn to be seen. Instead, she found what were undeniably wolf tracks, much less sunken into the snow but still deep. "Thorn," her mind began to race as she looked off in the direction of the tracks. He had transformed. Something had made him lose control in the middle of the night and he had done everything he could to put distance between the two of them so he couldn't hurt her. Was it her fault? Had she done something that had angered him or...or what if it was because of the way she teased him? She thought back to his arm around her abdomen, the way she had crushed her pelvis against his? She hadn't meant to do anything that would cause him to need to run away from her.

"Thorn!" She yelled long and loud out into the snow. What if he changed back and couldn't find his way back to the car. What if he left and never changed back at all! She trudged through the snow, following the wolves tracks further and further through the pine trees. Her legs tired quickly and it was hard to catch her breath but she needed to find him as fast as she could.

Eventually, she came to a clearing where the tracks stopped and she found herself looking out over a large frozen lake. At least she thought it was large. She couldn't see any more than twenty feet out in front of herself but the shore extended straight out from either side of her. It must have been warmer earlier when it started snowing because there wasn't much powder on top of the frozen water. She bent down to inspect the ice and found that the tracks, in fact, did not stop, but became very hard to see. He had gone out on the ice.

Was he heavier than she was in his wolf form? She wasn't light that was for sure. Being six feet tall and lightweight wasn't much of an option, nevermind that she wasn't exactly thin from the waist down and she was covered in heavy clothing. She stepped on foot gingerly out onto the ice and tried to listen for a crunch or creak. It was hard to hear over the wind but she thought she'd heard nothing. She put her weight down and when it supported her step she continued out onto the lake, trying her best to follow his paw prints.

She walked for what felt like forever because of how slow the progress was, concentrating on not falling over and listening for cracks in the ice. Finally, she began to hear something else entirely.

Growling. It sounded just like how Thorn had growled at her when she was on the floor in the motel. Low and hungry

"Thorn," she said softly, still unable to see him through the snow. She knew that he should be able to hear her though and she continued by sinking to her knees on the ice and holding up her hands to show she wasn't armed. "Thorn I'm not gonna hurt you okay? It's okay. I need you to change back so we can go back to the car. I'm sorry if I made you change but I'm freezing and I need you."

The growling never stopped, and as she was able to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from she realized that there wasn't just one source. Out from the haze of snow, she saw more than one wolf appear. One to her right, one left and one in front of her, each one a different shade of grey and white.

Her heart sank and her blood began to boil, panic rising in her veins. "So what are the chances that you guys have seen a giant black wolf around here?" She asked, almost serious. All she got back were snarls and bared teeth and she turned to find another grey wolf closing in behind her. "Didn't think so," she breathed as she slowly began to stand.

She had nothing to defend herself and she was surrounded now. If they were werewolves she might be able to change them back as she had with Thorn but judging by how much larger Thorn was than these wolves she suspected that they were nothing more than wild animals looking for dinner. She felt foolish for not thinking that there may be other animals out here in the storm than just Thorn.

As the wolf in front of her got low and ready to pounce she readied herself as best she could as well. When he lept at her, fangs bared, it took every ounce of strength she had left to jump to her left and roll away from him. When she hit the ice she finally heard what she had been listening for. The ice cracked beneath her with the weight of her fall and began to break apart. Before another wolf could pounce and before she could stand she was through the ice and in the dark.

At first, it felt no different. She could hardly see in the murky black water. She couldn't feel her fingers or face anyway and her muscles were so tired from the snow that she felt just as slow as she had before. But as her heavy clothes soaked through that all changed. The cold bit at every inch of her body and she tried to scream, wasting most of the air in her lungs. She tried to swim up but the heavy coat was holding her down. She tried to wriggle out of it as best as she could but by the time it was off of her, her vision was already going dark. She couldn't even see the opening in the ice she had made by falling through. If the moon had been out tonight she'd have been able to see it through the opening but the clouds made it impossible. She swam up as fast as she could and by the time her fingers hit the solid underbelly of the ice she was almost ready to suck down water and give up. Through her nearly numb palms she could feel vibrations in the ice and she thought for a moment that she could see the outline of a wolf standing just above her.

'Sorry to waste your dinner,' was all she could think as she began to sink back down. She couldn't help it anymore, she needed to breathe in and there wasn't much to choose from other than the icy cold water. One full breath in and she was choking herself to sleep. 'I'm sorry Thorn..' was her last thought before her vision faded to black and she lost consciousness.

//

Then she was coughing and sputtering water all over herself. There was so much of it. It felt like every vomit she had had in the car combined into one and as she rolled over onto her stomach it flowed out of her and into the ice. Once she had caught her breath she looked around. She saw the hole she had plunged through and around it were four, very bloody, and very dead, grey wolves. Their blood was splashed all around them, gleaming red on the snow and ice. Then she turned around and the grogginess shot from her body as adrenaline took over.

"Thorn!" She shouted in worry. He was there, passed out on the ice behind her, fur soaked with ice-cold water and stained with blood. At first, she had thought it was only the other wolves' blood but she saw it pooling around his unconscious body and quickly realized otherwise. She crawled to him as best she could, her limbs still very numb and growing ever more so.

"You went in after me you idiot!?" She yelled as her teeth chattered and she finally reached him. She tried her best to feel his heartbeat through his fur-covered throat but she could hardly feel anything with the shape she was in. He wasn't moving that she could see and his eyes were closed. "Thorn!" She yelled almost right into his ear, tears welling in her eyes. "I can't do this alone come on you can't die!" She said as she shook his soaking body.

Focusing on him was the only thing keeping her mind off of the fact that she was soaked with cold water as well. It was a miracle she had even woken up at all. She thought that she had run herself dry of tears after last night but when they began to fall again they didn't stop. She leaned into his limp body and grabbed at his fur, holding him to her with her body draped across his. "Thorn please," she whimpered softly. "I don't care about the deal or getting the stupid amulet back please just wake up," she begged.

He still didn't move a muscle and she began to think he may be dead. The only person she had left, dead in her arms. The only person that knew she was out here alone in the cold and the only person she still had that she could trust. Her only comforting thought was that soon, if she didn't think of something, at least he wouldn't die alone.

She had nearly let herself stop breathing, crying into his fur when she finally had an idea. If she could use magic to change him back from a wolf into a human, surely she could use it for other things too. Maybe she could convince his body that it wasn't cold, or wet, just long enough to get him in motion back to the car and maybe once she was there she could find a way to save him.

She sat up and pressed her hands back to his body and shut her eyes, trying to calm her hyperventilating to a normal breathing pace. She could do this. She pictured the brightest, warmest thing she could, the sun, and tried to feed that image to Thorn through her fingertips. She was shocked to find that after only a few moments that not only did she feel as though she was getting warmer, but Thorn was beginning to stir beneath her touch. Either that it was her imagination trying to trick her into thinking she was no longer actively dying.

"Thorn," she whispered softly, trying not to startle him. She had made a conscious effort to keep him from changing back to his human form and she was praying that it hadn't been a mistake. She knew he wasn't clothed and she didn't want him losing the only thing keeping him from freezing out here, his fur. After all, she had no idea if she was actually producing any heat or just tricking their brains into thinking she was. Either way, she needed to convince this wolf that she was a friend and fast.

He was looking up at her with his fangs bared, yet silent and his eyes were hard like he was waiting for her to kill him. "Come on," she cried, "get up," she continued as she tried to lift him to his feet. After a moment he seemed to understand her desire and stood though he was laboring very hard to do so. He was in no condition to be killing her and while she was grateful for that she was still terrified that he would bleed out any minute. She began to walk with him, arms still clutched to his fur, toward the car. Thankful at the edge of the lake their tracks hadn't been covered up and they were able to walk back along the path.

She figured they were about halfway back when Thorn stopped and she feared the worst. But when she looked to him she found he was staring off into the distance rather than at her. She tried to follow his sight but the snow was still falling and she didn't see anything of note. "What is it? More wolves?" She asked quietly. He didn't answer, of course, instead, he began to walk in the direction he had been looking. "Hey, where are you going?" She huffed. She hadn't saved his life so he could wander off and die. Her fingers were still entwined in his fur so she began to follow and he slowed down for her to work her way through the snow. She couldn't help but notice the long trail of blood he was leaving behind them and she was thankful for whatever she had shown him because there was no way he should be standing up right now.

After a few feet though she saw what he had spotted. There in the snow was an old log cabin covered in snow. As they came near they found all the lights off, no car in the driveway and no signs of life at all. She saw Thorn sniff around a little before seeming satisfied that they were alone and he padded to the door. She followed and turned the handle to find it locked.

Thorn looked as though he was prepared to force his way through but she put herself between him and the door. "You don't need to get any more injured than you already are...just wait a second." She pulled his keys from her pocket and summoned magic to her fingertips. She felt as though she barely had any left and the keys burned in her palms. She pulled her sleeve down quickly and held one of the keys in it as she focused the magic into her palm and jammed the key into the lock, feeling it change shape inside the mechanism. A second later she twisted and the doorknob turned, unlocked.

As they walked inside she shut the door behind them and watched as Thorn slumped to the floor in the center of the room. His form began to shift as his fur began to disappear, leaving him naked and face down in the carpet with a large bite mark on his shoulder. It bled more now that he was back to just flesh and bone and she scrambled through the house to find the kitchen.

The cold was beginning to get to her again and she realized she had forgotten to keep focussing on keeping them warm. When she found the kitchen she ripped open the cabinets and found a fresh cloth and tried to run the water in the sink to find the pipes completely frozen. Moving to the bathroom she pulled open the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of Tylenol but nothing more. She ran back to the kitchen and rifled through the cabinets again until she found a half-empty bottle of whiskey before running back to Thorn and dropping the items near him before she ran again to find blankets and towels from around the house. "Thorn!" She yelled as she raced around. "You alive in there!?" She shouted as she searched for matches and even found an old sewing kit in the bedroom.

She heard him grumble something softly but couldn't make out what it was. When she returned she threw the blanket over his lower body and then moved to the fireplace. Thankfully there was a pile of dried wood right against the wall beside it and newspaper, and she chucked a few in before striking a match on the bricks of the fireplace and tossed it inside. The newspaper caught instantly and after a few moments, the dried wood was already catching. Then she turned back to Thorn. She moved to him and pressed her finger into his throat and felt for his pulse.

She looked to his shoulder and found that it was still bleeding but not as badly. The holes however where his opponent had sunk his teeth into the meat of his shoulder were very deep and needed to be closed. She had never used a sewing needle in her life but if there was a time to learn it would be now. "Okay, Thorn this is...this is gonna hurt a lot okay?" She admitted. "That needs to be closed and I've never sewn before."

"Do it," he grumbled. She was thankful that he had the strength to answer her and she grabbed the face cloth she had collected and soaked it in the whiskey before handing the rest of the bottle to him.

He took it silently and took several long sips from it before setting it down beside him. When he did, though the light from the fire glinted off his ring and she hatched an idea. She grabbed for his hand when he felt her fingers on the ring he tried to pull away. "let me take that off," she scolded.

"This isn't the best time for trying to have your way with me," he growled.

"I'm going to try to glamour you to think of something else and reduce the pain! Let me take it off!" He fell silent for a long while before he let his hand go slack and she was able to gently take his ring off and set it aside on the floor. She then began to thread the needle and before she started she stripped off what was left of her clothes beside her panties, letting the fire dry and warm her up in an effort to steady her hand.

She straddled his back and in the glow of the fire she pressed one hand to his shoulder blade and asked, "what do you think of to help you relax?"

"I...Nothing I just…" he said, clearly trying his best not to look at her. She pressed the cloth into his back and she felt him tense up as he held in a yelp and bit down on the blanket with a growl.

"Well, figure it out or this is going to be really unpleasant."

She couldn't help but stare down at the muscles of his back and trace them with her free hand while she waited, scrubbing blood off of him waiting for an answer. When he failed to answer she pressed her hand back into his skin and he quieted down, clearly going completely limp. She had forced him into sleep for lack of a better idea and she picked up the needle and began to plunge it in and out of his skin. She tried her best to pull the injury together, resorting to using her phone to look up what she was supposed to do. She only closed the largest two holes and decided to bandage the rest.

She did her best to make him comfortable, leaving his ring nearby so that he could slip it on himself if he so desired if he woke up before she set about gathering up more blankets and pillows. She placed a pillow below his head and she raided the cabinets some more until she was forced to accept the only thing in the cabin worth eating or drinking was more alcohol.

Another half-drank bottle of whiskey was her only company as she sat in front of the fire, curled up in a blanket and waited. She had almost died tonight and she didn't like the way that that sat in her stomach. What were they supposed to do now? They were warm and safe at least but what if this injury was too much for Thorn? She looked down at her arm and began to clean and re-bandage it as best as she could alone.

She had ditched the rest of her clothes as well and sat there alone wallowing in her tipsy thoughts as she watched him rest. The way his back rose and fell with each breath, muscles rippling out and in with each movement. His face actually looked sort of... peaceful for the first time since they had met.

She wished she could just go lay down with him and go back to sleep but she was wide awake. Her hands were stained with his blood and once she had looked down to them in her lap she hadn't been able to look away. The way the red flowed in the fire against her blue skin had her gruesomely fascinated. The way it coated her elongated fingers.

They were even now, weren't they? He had patched her up as best he could the night before in the motel hadn't he? He had carried her in from the car and bought the room AND gotten all the way through cleaning her off before he lost control. But then she'd had to save him from himself right afterward. She'd had to figure out how to use her magic in only a matter of seconds in order to keep him from killing her. She had paid for everything the entire trip though she supposed that was fair since she did hire him technically.

But tonight was different. She wasn't going to die in the car last night from blood loss. She had just passed out. Tonight she had nearly died. Drowned in freezing cold water hundreds of miles from home and the only person who would have known was the one who led her out to the water in the first place. Sure he had pulled her out and fought off her attackers but it was his fault for going out and looking for a fight in the first place.

She had to assume that that was why he had left the car in such a hurry. If she didn't blame it on that then she would be forced to confront the fact that it may have been her desire to sleep next to him that made him lose control. She was about to start giving thought to the possibility when Thorn began to stir and groan in pain. The first thing he reached for however was not his ring, but the rest of the bottle he had drunk from before. He downed it impressively as she turned away from him and back to the fire. She could feel the fire on her skin and the whiskey in her veins made her want nothing more than to turn back and put him back under a spell.

If he was asleep she could try to ignore him, pretend that he wasn't there, only mere feet away from her, naked on the floor under nothing but a single blanket. She could have curled up beneath it with him but something inside her had kept her from doing so. The worry that this would all happen all over again if she pressed her body to his one more time.

"Your ring is on the floor," was all she said. She heard him pick it up off the wood of the floor but was surprised when she heard it placed back down on one of the end tables in the room. She heard him walk over to her and watched as he sat down beside her in front of the fire, blanket wrapped around his shoulders as well.

"Thank you," he sighed and looked into the fire. He seemed to glimpse over at her and his eyes lingered on his blood all over her hands.

"It's fine," she breathed out and grabbed for her bottle, tipping her head back with the bottle. He was so close to her now that she could feel his heat returning to him. Her blanket hung loosely around her shoulders and nearly fell to the floor as she drank but she didn't care. He was strong-willed enough for both of them. When she finally set the bottle back down she caught him looking at her with a calm expression. "You know you should really put your ring back on…"

"I'll be fine…" he replied and she was surprised at the sweetness of his voice.

"Are you still...charmed?" She began to worry. If he was in no condition to control himself then she wouldn't be able to either.

"Nope," he smiled. "I just...you showed me something I really needed to see."

"What like...a dream?"

"Yeah."

"Well...you're welcome I guess," she shrugged and began licking the lingering taste of whiskey from her lips. "You owe me big time you know," she smirked.

"I know…" he admitted and she blinked in surprise. "I owe you a lot. Not sure how I could actually repay you."

It was then that her drunken mind hatched a plan that, she was at least a little sure, might not result in her getting pushed into the fireplace.

She was moving before she had even finished the thought. She shifted from her butt to her knees and let the blanket fall behind her onto the floor. Balancing on her left knee she swung her right knee over him and sat back down, in his lap, straddling him. "I do," she said softly. Her bloody fingers rested on his shoulders as he too allowed his blanket to fall to the floor and she felt his hands gripped her hips. "You can make me feel beautiful again…"

"Nic...you ARE beautiful…" was all he said and her eyes lit up.

"I didn't say you had to lie to me," she smiled shyly. "But I appreciate the effort." Oh, the human comfort of lies. She had forgotten all about the fact that she could no longer tell them. It hadn't even registered that she hadn't been able to tell him that the stitching wouldn't hurt.

"I'm not lying," he smiled back and he took hold of one of her hands and pressed the blood-stained skin to his lips.

"Thorn look at me...I'm an ugly monster."

"I am looking at you," he replied and she felt his hand return to her hip before she could no longer restrain herself. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his and this time when his lips parted to kiss her back, she didn't feel him tense up. He didn't pull away, he didn't fight his actions nor hers. Her hands moved under his arms and back up to his back where her nails began to dig in, a little more gently this time and she felt a moan at the back of his throat vibrate through her mouth.

This is what she had wanted. Every single bit of this moment was even better than she had imagined it. As their lips mashed together she pressed her weight into him and slowly forced him down onto his back on the blanketed floor. Her hands came back to his chest and she felt him pull her down with him before she felt his teeth at her neck. The soft bites sent shivers down her spine each time and if she was being honest, she could have been satisfied with letting him do just this for the rest of the night.

His hands ran up and down her spine before settling on her backside. "So you really like the nails in your back huh," she asked with a sly grin and her fingers slid up his inner thigh, nails dragging lightly on his skin. "What else?"

When he failed to answer her through his kisses she moved her hands to his member and took a much too tight grip, happy to see that he was enjoying this as much as she was. She heard him groan again and felt his blood pulse in her hand.

"Don't even tell me that you're a bottom," she gasped in delight.

"Is that a problem?" He asked as he lay his head back on the blanket and looked up to her grinning face, her teeth bit into her lower lip.

"Not one bit," she leaned forward and licked at his lips teasingly, pulling back before he could kiss her. She stood from where she sat atop his pelvis and walked away from him then, grabbing her bottle from the floor before she grabbed hold of the only chair in the living room. She pulled it closer to the fire as he watched, eyes fixated on her butt all the while. She sat down once she was satisfied with how warm she could feel the fire and beckoned for him to come to her. She didn't even have to enchant him to get him to crawl and she was delighted when he did. She watched him hungrily crawl to her and she spread her thighs apart. First, she felt his teeth nipping at the insides of her thighs and she took a long drink from the bottle. "Who knew this little deal could be so mutually beneficial," she laughed and watched as he too had to hold back a chuckle.

"May I?" He asked, voice low and teasing as he pressed a kiss to her inner thigh.

"And you were worried about me enchanting you," she chuckled. "You're the one doing all the right things." She watched as he kissed her thighs a few more times before she sighed. "Yes, you definitely may."


	9. Chapter Eight

No time for goodbye, he said  
As he faded away  
Don't put your life in someone's hands  
They're bound to steal it away  
Don't hide your mistakes  
Cause they'll find you, burn you  
Then he said  
If you want to get out alive  
Run for your life

-Three days grace, Get Out Alive

Chapter Eight

Nicole awoke to quite possibly the warmest sensation she had ever experienced. The sunlight shone in through the window of the cabin and the entire room was far more lit than it had been the night before. The pair hadn't managed to find their way to the bedroom last night, opting instead to sleep there on the floor where they had been entangled. The fire had long since gone out but the sun shining right on them had been more than enough to compensate combined with Thorn's heat and the blankets. Not to mention the whiskey that had been swimming through their veins. His arm was around her still, wrapped around her rib cage just below her bust and she could feel his face buried in her hair, his breath on her throat.

As the memories of their night flooded back to her at once and she pressed her butt back into his pelvis, finding them already, or should she say still, crushed together. Then the darker thoughts came. 'You forced him. You enchanted him.' The voices rang out in her head and she tried to shake the thoughts away. She hadn't had she? 'He told you he didn't want to be with you. He told you he wasn't ready. He didn't put his ring back on because he was already under your spell. He can lie and you believed everything he said.' she had to get up and away from herself. She began to shake and she felt an overwhelming wave of shame wash across her. She thought she may cry or vomit again but this time she truly was all out of tears. She gently removed herself from Thorn's grasp and left him there on the floor as she ran to the bathroom. She tried running the water again and found that this time it ran. It wasn't warm and it only dribbled out if the faucet lightly but it was enough. She wet a facecloth and began washing up all her vital areas. Teeth, pits, crotch, and butt before she moved to the bedroom and began hunting for clothes to wear. Eventually, she found clothes that would fit her well enough, jeans that she had to squeeze into and a t-shirt and hoodie left behind by whoever owned this place. She pulled out clothes that she thought would fit Thorn as well and when she returned to the living room she found him up and moving. When he turned to her she averted her eyes but couldn't help but see the glint if the sun shining off of his ring on his finger.

"I uhm...I found some clothes," she gulped out, trying to hold her thoughts at bay. She didn't want to show that she was upset. He had dealt with her enough already and she felt he deserved better. It wasn't that she hadn't enjoyed herself last night either. Or that she regretted drinking with him it was just that she was worried about all the things he would yell at her for once he started speaking. He didn't though, to her relief and he took the stack of clothes with a smile and a quick, "thanks," as he headed to the bathroom to do much the same thing she had done. She watched him go, eyes fixated on his stitches on his shoulder. Thankfully they hadn't torn any of them open and she could take a small amount of comfort in that.

'Maybe he doesn't remember?' she thought to herself as she sat down on the chair and waited for him. 'He woke up and I wasn't there after all. Maybe he blacked out? He did lose a lot of blood and drank a pretty decent amount.' The thought was meant to make her feel less guilty but it had the opposite effect. 'Great so not only did you enchant him but you also raped a drunk guy…' she thought to herself as she buried her face in her hands.

"You alright?" She heard as her head shit back up and she looked to the doorway of the bathroom where he stood pulling in the shirt she had given him.

She sucked in a deep breath through her nose and wiped her face quickly. "Nope," she said but felt a little tingle on her tongue and was surprised when she heard her own words. She hadn't meant to say that at all. She had meant to tell him she was fine. Then she remembered and balled her hands into fists. "Fuuckk! I forgot I can't fucking…" she growled out, leaving the last word out.

"Oookkaayyy," he lifted an eyebrow at her. "well what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it okay?" She bit out and stood, straightening her shirt out.

"Alright then?" He said softly before joining her in the living room.

"So what do we do now...the cars fucked and we are in the middle of nowhere."

"Actually my phone said we were only like ten minutes away before we stopped last night. We can walk the rest of the way."

"Then why did we stop? Why didn't we just go last night?"

"So we could rest?" He replied matter of factly. "Or do you wanna walk into a court of faeries who tried to kill you with me half asleep?"

"Fine whatever let's just...get this over with," she huffed before she pulled open the door and walked out into the snow. She had found them both a pair of boots and Thorn led her through the forest, stopping occasionally to sniff at the air. She wasn't sure what he was smelling for but when he eventually led them to a small grotto of trees where the sunlight seemed to focus down in a nearly perfect circle she figured he must have found it.

"Alright ground rules," he said softly and turned back to face her. "No deals, do not agree to anything unless I nod to you. Don't touch anything, don't speak unless spoken too, just follow my lead and above all else do not promise anything to anybody."

"What the fuck? I thought we came here to get my necklace back how am I supposed to do that without doing anything?"

"No, I came here to get your necklace back. You have no idea how to talk to faeries or what the customs are. If you agree to something without knowing the consequences then we could be in seriously deep shit. Promise me," he said softly as his vision darted from tree to tree.

"Fine…" she said solemnly, forced to admit that he was right. She hadn't pictured the courts of the fae to be so uptight but to be fair, she hadn't much thought about what they were really in for.

"You are only here so I can prove that it belongs to you if this happens to go smoothly. Otherwise, I'd have come alone. Now. I need you to stretch out with your magic and help me find the entrance. There doesn't seem to be any guards around so we should be able to sneak in here."

"Wait this?" She asked as she nodded to the clearing. "This is it?"

"Most courts are hidden underground. Burial grounds or old river beds that already have a lot of material out of the way for them to move in and dig out a hold."

"Well...what am I looking for?" She asked as she stepped closer to the ring of light but felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Slowly. There could be traps. This might not be the main entrance. We don't know what we're getting in to. Try and feel for a draft or listen for an echo. Might be a doorway."

As the pair spread out and slowly walked around the circle of light they both tried to listen for anything like the sound of people talking or stagnant air. After a few moments, Nicole whispered across the clearing. "Pss, over here," she motioned to one of the trees on the outside of the ring and watched him make his way over to her. She knocked on the door lightly and it sounded incredibly hollow. So hollow that if it was a normal tree just tapping in its bark would have toppled it over.

"Try and open it," he encouraged and watched as she spread her hands over it looking for a handle or a button. When she didn't find one she closed her eyes and summoned magic to her fingertips. She had intended to do more but the tree, sensing the magic in her fingertips, opened up immediately and showed a long dark wooden staircase leading down into the earth.

"I'll go first but," he whispered and stepped down inside as she followed cautiously, "keep an eye out behind us."

She did as she was told and as the pair slowly worked through the winding earthen corridors the voices they had heard before became louder and louder. "What are they having a party?"

"Revel. And yeah probably. That necklace means a very big celebration is in order. It's their ticket into the coronation in Elfhame without anybody knowing who they really are."

"Shouldn't we be disguised or something?" She whispered out nervously.

"I wouldn't worry about it. They don't know what you look like other than blue skin. They didn't see you without all that fake skin still hanging off of you and they didn't see your horns."

"Okay yeah but what about you? You smell like dogs and look human. Isn't that bad?"

"There are often humans at these revels. They are enchanted and stolen away from their lives to be playthings for court faeries."

"Okay well, how many of them have an anti enchantment ring on their finger?! Can't they tell?"

"They won't know if I play along. We are sneaking in there and we are going to pretend that we belong until we find out where the amulet is. You should glamour your clothes to look more regal and I'll pretend to be your pet or whatever. A werewolf that you enchanted," he shrugged.

It wasn't the best plan she had ever heard of but she had to admit it did appeal to her some. As she set about changing the appearance of her clothing he watched and saw as her jeans and hoodie became a long flowing, sleeveless, sheer black gown that hugged her body all the way down to her ankles. There were slashes down her outer thighs and they showed off her pale blue and grey skin nicely. She found him admiring her work, eyes fixated on her thighs as they had been the night before. "You are really into big thighs aren't you," she rolled her eyes.

"It's just...it's a good dress okay?" He sighed before he shook his head and she held out a newly black-gloved hand to him.

"Shall we?" She asked with a smirk. He took her hand and made sure to stay a half a pace behind her as they walked toward the music and voices to give the impression that he belonged to her, not the other way around. He let her lead him out of the dark and into a candlelit hall filled with long wooden tables and faeries of all shapes and sizes. There were lanterns hung from the curling and their light licked off of the earthen ceiling. At the back of the room was a throne, in which no one currently sat, and the large open center of the room was flooded with faeries dancing and drinking. Nicole's senses were filled to the brim with smells of food and drink she had never before seen the like of.

Fruits of wondrous colors looked fresh and ripe despite how deep into winter it was and she could smell them from across the room. She heard Thorn whisper softly as he saw her staring at the full tables. "Remember what I said."

He was being careful with his words and for a moment she didn't understand. 'Don't touch anything,' she remembered and tried to put all the food out of her mind. It didn't work, to say the least. They had driven for two days and eaten nothing but fast food and soda the entire time. The meals she hadn't thrown up were scarce and they hadn't eaten yet today either. She pulled him toward a vacant table and sat down with him, watching as he discreetly glanced around the room. "I haven't eaten anything real in days how do you expect me to not eat anything?"

"None of this shit is real either," he snorted. "Glamoured food. You thought you were sick in the car? You haven't seen anything yet."

"Then let's find this thing fast cus I'm starving."

They both looked around the room and once they were sure they turned back to each other. "Not here," Thorn whispered.

"Where then?" She asked as her eyes fell back to the food on the table. Meats and wines were spread across the large platters beside the fruits. Nicole licked her lips, yearning for the taste of the whiskey on them from the night before but found them cracked and dry.

"Lead me over to the doorway," he gestured with his chin and she reluctantly stood to lead him as he asked. Once there, he pulled her into the hallway gently and she found him seriously glaring at her.

"What? I didn't touch anything!"

"No I know I just...I need you to stay here."

"What? Where are you going?" She asked frantically and gripped onto his arms.

"I need to move fast and I can't do that while leading you through this maze of hallways. I'm going to go find the necklace and bring it back here. Then we will leave."

"That's stupid! What if you get caught! You can't fight back right now you're too hurt!" She half-whispered and half yelled over the noise of the crowd.

"Yes, but if I get caught I can lie about why I'm here and they may not suspect you. You'll be able to escape."

It pissed her off how right she knew he was. If they got caught sneaking around she couldn't lie to their captors. "Still I…," she said softly as she looked up into his dark eyes. "I don't want you to," she admitted as she took his hand in her own.

"I'll be fine," he said as he raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the backs of her fingers and gave a bow for good measure in case anyone had been watching them. "I promise."

Before she could say anything or work on deciphering if there was a hidden meaning to his words or actions he was gone. Into the darkness of the hallway and she was alone. Alone in a massive hall filled with faeries and creatures, and piled high with food and wine she wasn't meant to consume. If this was a test to see if she could follow directions then she was afraid she would almost certainly be failing it. She walked back toward the table they had briefly sat at but was surprised when someone stepped into her path.

Her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat and she was worried that her panic would show on her face. It was even larger than she had remembered and in the light of the grand room, its skin was even more green than it had been in her bathroom at home.

A troll. She couldn't tell if it was one of the two that had assaulted her but she couldn't discount the possibility. He was staring right at her and she couldn't tell by the way his face looked if he knew exactly who he was looking at. As she attempted to walk around him she heard him speak up.

"What's the rush?" He grumbled out with a smile. At least, she thought it was a smile. The way his long teeth flashed as he parted his lips made her think it might be something else.

"Sorry," she replied calmly and she was almost positive his smile turned into a frown. "Just waiting for my…" she almost said 'friend' before realizing that Thorn had told her to pretend she owned him. "Pet," she finished.

"Sorry?" The troll rolled the word around in his head. "Been spending too much time with this human-pet if you ask me."

"I didn't ask," she grumbled out before she felt his arm clasp around her arm. She wanted to rip away from him but she knew from her encounter with trolls before that she was nowhere near strong enough to do so. "Let go," she tried to sound imposing. Instead, she heard her voice tremble like a small child. She couldn't stop thinking about how the pair of monsters had handled her so easily like she was nothing. She felt his large and rough green digits stroke the skin of her arm and she noticed how he sniffed the air.

"You stink of human," he commented and this time when he spoke she smelled the heavy scent of alcohol on his breath, so much so that it made her gag. "Surely your pet won't mind if you have a little fun. There's much to celebrate this day," he slurred before she found herself being led into the crowd of faeries.

What was she meant to do? She couldn't very well overpower him and she didn't know what was normal at these gatherings. What if denying a member of the court came with punishment? Not to mention that just about every faerie in the hall was probably more experienced in using magic than herself. "I suppose a dance wouldn't kill him," she huffed as they stopped in the crowd and she felt his hands on her. She tried to hide her face by looking down, thankful that this creature was incredibly taller than she was. Every time he spoke she felt sick. Not to mention that he smelled terrible, to begin with, and his touch made her skin crawl. His fingers were oily and his entire body rank of sweat. How long had this revel been going on? Had they been celebrating since they found the necklace? That would have been almost three days ago by now.

She was ripped from her thoughts as she felt one of his hands leave her and go to his belt where he pulled a small leather pouch with a capped nozzle from and opened it. She could smell it before it even hit his grotesque lips and she thought she may become drunk off of the smell alone. When he was finished sipping at it she found it shoved toward her lips. She tried to resist but her thoughts of what would happen if she denied it came back to her. Reluctantly her lips parted and the liquid splashed down her throat easily. It was the sweetest and smoothest wine she had ever tasted. Not to mention the strongest.

Just a few swigs of this were more powerful than the entire bottle she drank last night. Her mind began to swim in moments and she even began to lose her balance and was almost relieved when his meaty hand returned to her waist to steady her. The room began to spin a little as a crooked smile passed over her lips. The smile seemed mirrored in the troll's face for a moment before she thought his form began to shift.

In mere moments the massive green monsters' features had shifted to make him appear to be Thorn. "If that's what it takes," he laughed in the troll's voice but Nicole could hardly notice as the crowd around her laughed at what she had done. She was glad that they found it just as enjoyable as she did.

"I'm sorry about this morning," she mumbled, barely coherent and the troll just laughed at her.

"You say sorry an awful lot for a faerie," he chuckled as his hands slid down to the slits in her dress and she felt Thorn's fingers grip her thighs like he had the night prior. All around her the crowd seemed to be doing much the same thing. Three days into their dancing some weren't even clothed at all anymore, nevermind being conservative with their actions.

She felt his hands thread into her dress, his fingers sliding over her backside as she danced and for a moment it all seemed like a dream. Around and around they went as the room spun and when she felt something thrust into her hand, she looked down to find a silvery gleaming fruit. One of the apples from the table. What had Thorn told her to do? Surely he had said for her to enjoy herself while he was gone, right?

She brought the fruit to her lips and just as her teeth broke the surface her eyes shot open wide. 'While he's gone,' she thought to herself and she froze. Her dance partner did as well, feeling her stop and watched as she looked up into his eyes. Whoever she was dancing with sure did look like Thorn, but those eyes weren't like Thorn's at all. Gold and flecked with green orbs stared back at her in confusion and she felt his grip tighten on her butt. She let the fruit drop from her hand as she put two and two together and let the glamour she had accidentally placed on him drop. How long had they been dancing? Screw being impolite she needed to get away from this or she may never again get a clear thought to do so.

Just as soon as she had decided to try and wrench away from him however they were distracted by the sounds of laughter coming from the end of the room near the throne. The crowd all turned in time to see what the commotion was and she used the chance to slip from his grasp and make her way out of the large crowd. When she looked back it seemed as though he had barely noticed her absence, as the entire crowd was now laughing along with whoever had started it. She was still dizzy and tried her best not to stumble across the earth and stone floor without tripping into any more bad situations. What had he given her? Her head was still swimming and she was most terrified that a part of her wanted to go back.

Once alone she looked back toward the throne, no longer blocked by the crowd and her eyes lit up in horror. There, on his knees with a fresh red slash through the front of his shirt and abdomen, was Thorn, in the grip of a leather armor-clad knight.

His armor was stained white and had sets of fangs painted and adorned over the shoulder pauldrons. Her heart sank and her breath hitched in her throat as another pair of creatures came out from behind the throne. As they did, most of the folk in the room sank gracefully to their knees and Nikki was left almost alone, standing above everyone else. After a moment she thought it best to join them but it was far too late. The troll she had been dancing with found her standing above the crowd and was on his way to her. She stayed standing and when he approached he took her by the arm and led her through the crowd up to the throne where she was pushed to her knees before Thorn.

So close to him she could hear how ragged his breath was and see more than one bruise blooming on his face and arms, not to mention a fresh cut in his lower lip. "This one brought him here," was all the troll said before retreating into the crowd. Now, with the room quietly waiting for an explanation she could tell for certain that that voice belonged to the troll who had stuffed the clovers into her mouth in her living room. She made a mental note of what he had looked like and shoved it way down deep so she could focus on acting her part.

She looked up from the floor and found a grey-skinned, white-haired creature standing above her. His lips were purple as though he was ice cold and he stared back at her expectantly. Her eyes dropped back to Thorn and she found him making a kissing motion with his lips silently while he stared at the ground. 'Kiss ass,' she thought to herself.

"We found your little pet here sniffing around alone. Care to explain why?" The male above her boomed as she looked back up to him, careful to keep her eyes from locking with his.

She stood slowly, making it clear that she had no weapon in hand nor nasty intentions. "My...lord," she half guessed but rolled with, "I know not why...he disappeared from my side during the festivities," she tried her best to keep her vocabulary prim and proper but she wasn't used to this at all. She guessed this was why Thorn had told her to stay silent and not touch anything. She wasn't prepared to talk her way out of this. "I apolo-" she began but was interrupted when Thorn loudly cleared his throat. She looked down at him just in time to see the guard holding the collar of his shirt knee him hard in the shoulder and she saw his face wrenched with pain.

It took everything she had not to drop back to her knees and try to help him. The guard had gotten him right where she had stitched him up and it showed in the way Thorn writhed in pain and grit his teeth. Why would he do that? He knew so much more about any of this then she did so why would he do something he knew would Garner punishment. What had she said that she wasn't supposed to say? 'You apologize like a human,' the troll's words flickered through her mind and she realized what he was trying to tell her. 'Faeries don't apologize,' she thought to herself as she took a deep breath to calm herself. "He will be punished."

"Oh yes indeed," the man before he said with a wry smile and she got the distinct feeling she hadn't gotten what she wanted. Her eyes dropped back to Thorn and this time she found him looking back up at her.

"I would...if I may, request no permanent damage to my pet. I am sure he knew not the level of his...crime," she struggled to say, watching his eyes for any signs that what she was saying was good or bad.

But then Thorn was on his feet and pushed his back against the knight had held him. The knight toppled back into the wall for a moment and a rush came up from the crowd as people gasped. Before she could react his hand was on hers and his lips were against her ear. Her eyes drifted closed as she felt his breath on her neck. "Run like hell...and don't you dare look back…" he said before he pressed his lips to her cheek. Before she could reply however he was ripped away from her and pushed back to the floor. The knight began kicking his boot into the gash across Thorn's stomach she watched him squirm with pain.

"I think it proper for you to share in his punishment, don't you?" She barely heard the words. She ripped her eyes from Thorn, pinching off tears as she wheeled around and ran. She barely knew where she was going but this was the first time her romps through the forest came in handy. She couldn't do a lot of things right but she could run like hell, even glamoured up in a dress. She let the magic on her shoes fade so they changed back into rugged boots and before anyone in the crowd could lunge out at her she was back in the halls that Thorn had led her down to get inside.

She counted herself lucky that she had given Thorn the cold shoulder all morning, as it meant she had been paying attention to where they were going, rather than focusing on him. After only a few moments though she could hear knights charging down the hall after her as she was about to round a corner, she heard an arrow hit the wall, only just missing her thigh. 'Don't look back,' her mind raced as she tore down the earthen dim hallways until she began to feel the cold draft from the entryway they had come in. A few skipped stairs and she was back out in the snow. She didn't even bother shutting the doorway, electing to just keep moving as fast as she could through the snow.

If she stopped running she was going to die, or worse, she'd have to confront the fact that she had left Thorn to die. More arrows whizzed past her and stuck into trees that she carefully navigated, following their footsteps back toward the cabin, not exactly sure what she was going to do once they got there. However as she drew closer and closer to where they had stayed the night, she found that their footprints doubled up, and we're not the same size as each other. Someone had found their tracks and stopped, electing to not follow them to the clearing.

As she was thinking, however, her foot sank deeper into a drift of snow and her toes hit a fallen branch under all the powder. Before she could even breath she was face down in the snow. She rolled over just in time to see a pair of knights, apparently her only pursuers, gaining on her. They slung their bows over their shoulders and each of them drew a long and slim blade from their hip. One, taking the initiative, did not slow down as his partner did, and drew back his sword to cut her through before she heard a quick thwip of air and he froze. His eyes went wide and he dropped his blade behind him before falling forward right onto Nicole in the snow. His weight and how tired she was effectively left her trapped below his body. She was too sluggish in the snow and couldn't get a good grip on him to roll his body away. If she stayed down like this she was done for, and no one would know what had happened to Thorn.

Maybe she could save him. Maybe she could find his cell phone in his car and call Kaye. She would promise anything to anybody right now if it meant she could get Thorn out of the Court of Teeth. None of that mattered if she couldn't live through this. She pushed up with everything she had but the knight wouldn't budge. After a moment however she heard the other knight fall to the ground before she heard snow crunching below boots coming toward her.

Two slender, black leather-clad hands grasped the knight's shoulders and pried him up and off of her. She was about to sit up when she saw the glint of a knife head down toward her throat and stop, hovering just above her skin. She could feel the heat radiating off the iron blade even though it wasn't yet touching her. Maybe there was more than one group who wanted the satisfaction of killing her.

She looked up into the knife's owner's face and was surprised to find a human woman staring back at her. She had Olive green eyes and red hair in a small bob cut, however, one side of her head was shaved down nearly to her scalp. Nikki thought she may be older than Thorn but not by much. She was then surprised when her partner came into view, another girl who looked eerily like the one holding the knife to her throat. Her red hair was long though and held up in a ponytail tail. They were dressed differently too. The one standing wore armor, she could see small iron plates secured to leather underneath and her chest was adorned with a large oak tree. She had an impressive looking sword at her hip as well. The girl holding her down had a much simpler iron sword sheathed across her back and was dressed in blue jeans, a black shirt and a long black leather coat over it. She could see into her coat from her angle on the ground and found many more knives there than she cared to count.

Finally one of them spoke, and when she did, the thoughts that Nikki had been running from were pulled to the front of her mind.

"Where is the werewolf," she growled out sternly and Nicole's heart began to race, tears welling up in her eyes. "Where is Thorn."


	10. Chapter Nine

Even a well-lit place, can hide salvation  
A map to a one-man maze that never sees the sun  
Where the lost are the heroes  
And the thieves are left to drown  
But everyone knows by now  
Fairy tales are not found  
They're written in the walls

-Starset, It Has Begun

Chapter Six

"So let me get this completely clear," the girl in black sighed wearily as she rubbed her hands into her face. Nicole had explained to them that more knights would be coming after her and she had shown them the way, at knifepoint, to the cabin that she and Thorn had stayed in last night. "Thorn told you to run and you just...left him there?" She said in genuine disbelief.

Nicole had dropped her glamour and she appeared to be back in the clothes she had found in the bedroom that morning. She was trying to get a fire started, anything to keep her face hidden from the two girls so they couldn't see how sorry she felt. "I fucked up okay? When we first went in he gave me a shortlist of shit not to do and I...did almost all of it. Why are you here?"

"We've been following you since a couple of hours after you left New York," the girl in armor answered. "We work with Kaye and she told us that Thorn just vanished with a dark-skinned elf to go start shit with the Court of Teeth all on his own," she rolled her eyes.

"Didn't want to believe it but, here you are," the other gestured as Nicole finally got a match to light and set the fire. "And Thorn is probably already de-" she began but Nikki whirled around and shouted at her before she could finish.

"Don't say it!" She cried. Her breath was hitching in her throat and she had been working to fight back tears since the last glimpse she had gotten of him. "He's alive...he has to be alive," she croaked out and the two girls looked at each other in what seemed like sorrow.

"Kaye said your name was Nicole, right?" The short-haired one asked and Nikki nodded her head, hands balled fists over her heart.

"I'm Val," the one in black said softly, "This is Hazel," she nodded to her partner.

"...Hi," Nicole whispered out, still holding back tears.

"You...really don't know much of anything about faeries do you?" Hazel asked as she finally sat down.

"Apparently not," Nikki sobbed with a hysteric smile. "Only enough to get Thorn killed because of me," she let out as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Look, Nicole," Val spoke up again. "Like I said we work with Kaye...and we...well, I," she emphasized the word "owe Thorn a debt."

Nicole began to put her words together as she wiped her face in her sleeve. "How big of a debt?" She asked hopefully.

Val sighed and shut her eyes tight, "big enough to try and save him if...he is still alive." Nicole's heart jumped in her chest as her jaw dropped open to speak, but no words came for a moment. She didn't know what to say.

"You...you would help me free him?"

"Can you lead us back to the court?" Hazel asked.

Nikki just nodded her head and swallowed hard. "What...what would I owe you…"

Val just stared at her for a moment before she smiled a sweet smile down to her. Val crossed the room and held her hand down to Nicole to help her to her feet. Nikki took her hand and once she was on her feet Val spoke again. "Nothing. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because I owe Thorn."

Nicole's face lit up in surprise before Hazel spoke. "Hey I don't owe Thorn jack," she shrugged and Val turned around to face her with a smug smirk on her lips.

"No, but you owe me plenty," she chuckled out and Hazel huffed out a frown.

"Fine," she threw up her hands in mock surrender. "Better not get us killed," she pointed first to Val and then to Nicole. "Now let's eat, I'm starving."

"You guys have food?" Nicole's stomach growled audibly and the others began to laugh. "We haven't...really eaten much."

"Yeah we've got stuff packed," Val answered. The two girls had each been wearing a backpack when they found Nikki in the snow and they began rifling through them now in the kitchen. They pulled out things like power bars, bottled water and fruit juice, and even some microwave meals.

"Why do you have all this stuff?" Nicole watched in amazement before being handed a meal's worth of items from the pile.

"Because some of us are just human women who can't eat junk every meal of the day and stay in shape," Hazel answered snarkily and she figured she must be referring to Thorn's physique and his, thus far, less than stellar eating habits.

Nicole laughed at the thought and, for a moment, it made her happy to think of Thorn in that way until the darker thoughts returned and she stared down into the countertop.

"Hey," she felt Val's hand on her arm and looked up into her gentle smile. "He'll be alright. He always is," she rolled her eyes. "Sitting here on an empty stomach isn't going to help him."

"...Yeah I know I just...I…," she trailed off before she shook her head. "You're right."

Hazel moved to the cabinets and found them some plates and eventually a pan to put over the fire in the fireplace. As they all sat down in front of the fire to cook their meals Nikki had to ask the question burning on her tongue.

"How long until we can go back?"

"Well, certainly not during the day today. We'll head back tonight and try to take them by surprise. They don't much sleep during the night but if we went back too soon they'd still be on alert. By nightfall, they should think you've escaped with your life and go back to partying."

"Okay well...are the three of us really gonna be enough?"

"We'll be fine," Hazel assured her in such a way that Nikki actually believed her. They were both so sure of themselves. Neither of them seemed to be afraid at all of what they were about to do. Either that or they just hid it so well that Nicole couldn't quite tell the difference.

"So...how do you know Thorn anyway?" Nicole asked, trying to change the subject of whether they would find him dead or alive. "I get through Kaye but like...what did he do for you?"

Val let her vision fall to the floor as Nikki saw a smile flash across her lips. It was soft, as if in remembrance. "He protected somebody that...is very important to me. I didn't even ask he just...did it. Threw himself in the way and I don't...think I could have ever put a price on it so I...told him I owed him. I didn't actually meet him through Kaye. Kaye met him through me," she smiled. "I think it was his first favor and well, he's made a bit of a living out of it."

"He really...did that?" Nikki struggled to think of Thorn being so selfless before remembering how they had gotten wrapped up together in the first place. When he thought she was human he had been selfless too. "Cus you're human," she huffed before Val laughed.

"Yes I am very...very mortal," she smiled solemnly for a moment before her expression brightened. "But the one he saved was not," she said happily and Nicole's face softened. "He wasn't always like this you know?"

"How was he…" she breathed out before Val shook her head.

"Sorry but...it's really not my place to get your hopes up," she shrugged.

"Dude can hold a serious grudge," Hazel smirked as she pulled their meals off the fire and passed them out. "And take a hell of a beating."

"He almost...WE almost died last night...and I can't help but feel that the only reason he saved me was because we made a deal…" she sulked. "I've been so completely useless this entire trip and I hate it. I hate sitting here pretending that everything is okay…"

She felt Hazel's hand on her shoulder and looked to see a sympathetic smile on her face. "Everybody feels that way sometimes. All that matters is what you do about it when the opportunity comes. Okay? You need to eat, come on," she said as she handed Nicole her meal.

"Okay," Nikki breathed out skeptically before digging into her food.

//

As the hours slowly crawled by and the sun finally began to go down Val and Hazel instructed Nicole on how to, at the very least, wield a knife enough to the point where she could almost protect herself. She'd had problems picking up the proper way to plant her feet. Val and Hazel had made it a point to show her how off-balance she was and she had hit the wooden floor many times that afternoon.

Still, it was better than nothing. She was at least armed, as Val had loaned her a knife with no iron in it so it didn't make her uncomfortable to hold it. It was blown glass, colored with red and green hues and Val had mentioned to her to be careful with it. Nicole hadn't heard much of that conversation because she was trying to come to terms with the fact that she was being taught to kill someone.

Sure, it was for her own benefit, and by extension, Thorn's, but only three days ago she was a normal human girl who's last thought would be how to hold a knife properly or how to stick it inside someone in just the right way to end their lives quickly and quietly. It had been hard at first but she was a little scared at how quickly the girls had gotten her into it. All they'd had to do was tell her to close her eyes and imagine someone she would like to stab. The troll who had lured her to dance with him, if you could even call that dancing. She could still feel his grimy fingers on her butt and thighs and it made her skin crawl to think that she had ever settled for trying to change him to look like Thorn. It made her feel extremely guilty that once again she had let another man have his way with her while she changed them to look like the guy she wished was touching her, rather than try to stop them.

How was Thorn ever supposed to believe that she really liked him if she kept letting that happen? She wasn't exactly doing a great job of convincing him that she did have real feelings for him and, so far, only him. She'd never felt attached to anybody before. Even her relationship with the people pretending to be her parents was never a strong one. Not that it was bad but she'd never felt like she truly belonged to them. Now she knew why that was of course. They had never been strict or told her what to do and when to do it. Never seemed concerned when she skipped school or when she wandered off alone into the forest.

They were probably paid to keep an eye on her and nothing more. Make sure she didn't die and that's it. None of the people she had slept with in the past had left a lasting impression either, nor did she ever have the desire to see them more than once. Coming home from New York nightclubs on the train with some random guy or girl just to send them packing the next morning had become normal for her before she'd moved to Connecticut. It had been much harder to find ways to kill time over the last few months in the middle of nowhere.

But when she'd met Thorn something had been different. It had only been a few days but she found herself becoming attached to him remarkably quickly. And now he was probably dead underneath a tree somewhere or dumped into the lake to be rid of his body. Or worse. He could still be down there, alive and being tortured until he gave up who she was and why they were there. She shook the thoughts from her head and set out in the snow, slowly leading Val and Hazel back to where they had entered the court.

They met no resistance on the way and Nikki couldn't decide if that was good for them or bad. It either meant they were waiting for them, or that they really couldn't imagine her being stupid enough to come back so soon, nevermind at all.

When she found the tree again and opened it just the same as she had before and again, no one was there waiting for them. As they kept through the halls Val finally spoke up, careful to keep her voice as quiet as she possibly could. "This is too easy."

"Definitely a trap," Hazel agreed but they pressed on.

"I don't know another way in and there was no one in these halls last time either," Nicole shrugged. "I only know how to get to the hall so if it's a trap they'll be set up there," she continued.

"Let me get in front of you," she heard Hazel's request before she stopped and let the armor-clad woman get past her. Nicole directed her from the middle of their formation as Val watched behind them. She seemed skeptical about it but she was pretty sure no one was following them either.

Had they all left? Had the party ended after she'd escaped? Or had it simply moved to another locale somewhere in the labyrinth of corridors of dirt and stone. As they finally reached the hall where the revel had been earlier they got somewhat of an answer. Before they could even round the corner they'd heard grunts and growls of pain but there didn't seem to be anything else. The room was vacant of any of the folk and almost all of the lanterns had gone out. The source of the noise, to Nicole's relief and horror, was Thorn, tied by his wrists to the rafters of the room.

He was even more beaten than when she had left and she found it impossible to look away. "Thorn!" She gasped and for a moment, she forgot where they were. She took a hasty step toward him but stopped when she felt Val grab her arm. She looked back to see her green eyes staring back at her.

"Slowly Nikki, ears open," she said softly before letting go of her wrist and pointing around the room suggestively.

"Okay," Nikki breathed out as she turned back Thorn. He was writhing in his bonds and she dreaded to think why. Had he been up there all day? The earth was stained a dark red beneath him and the entire room stank of his blood. As she drew closer thought she could see through the gashes in his clothing and skin, and she felt her stomach lurch at the sight of them. There was some sort of...plant, she thought, packed tightly into his wounds. The blood trickling down his body was more brown than red from mixing with the green pigment.

She'd nearly made it to him when she chose to speak up. "What is that stuff?" She whispered.

"What stuff?" Val asked as she turned to face them. She had been moving with Nikki but she had been walking backward to keep an eye on their exit. When she saw the plants in his abdomen her jaw dropped. "Fuck," she said in a long mournful sigh.

"Wolfsbane?" Hazel asked from a far off part of the room and Nikki looked to find her inspecting behind the throne.

"Seems like it," Val sighed as she turned back around to face the exit. Nikk’s vision returned to Thorn and she watched horrified as he continued to writhe around in pain.

"What's it doing to him?" She whispered hurriedly. She hated to see him like this. It was hard enough before to not cry. Now that she was watching him be tortured she wanted to scream.

"Wolves tend to transform when seriously injured. Helps them heal faster and they can take more pain that way. Wolfsbane keeps wolves from transforming," Val answered solemnly. "If he's been like that all day it's a miracle he's alive at all. You gotta pull that shit out of him Nikki."

"What?" Nikki gasped. "I...I don't know if I," she began but stopped as she remembered her own words from that morning. She was tired of feeling useless, wasn't she? She could keep Thorn alive if she just sucked it up. But stitching someone and pulling plants out of their guts were two very different things. Val was about to reply when she looked back and saw Nikki take a step toward one of the tables. She grabbed a wooden chair and carried it back over to Thorn and set it down before stepping up into it.

Their faces were only a few inches apart from each other and she couldn't help but see the pain in his expression, how his eyes had glazed over or how he was drenched in sweat. "Thorn I…,” she began as she placed her hands on his cheeks and he pulled his head away from her. She hadn't expected the rejection to hurt so much but she did expect it. She cursed herself for listening to him when he'd told her to run. Sure if she stayed she'd have been tortured or killed along with him, but at least that way he wouldn't have been alone. She'd have been there to suffer with him. "I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?” Her breath hitched as she fought back tears and leaned in. She pressed her lips to his cheek and was surprised when this time, he did not pull away.

"Black birsmmm hmmmm," he hummed before trailing off and Nikki blinked in confusion.

"Nikki he's probably delirious," Hazel whispered up to her. "Probably can't understand a word we are saying. He might not even know we're here. Just pull that shit out of him."

'Now or never,' she thought to herself as she bit her bottom lip and prepared herself. She brought her fingers to the open wound on his abdomen and closed her eyes. His flesh was warm and soaked with slick blood. She swallowed down a gag as her fingers worked into the gash. The flesh of his stomach was so warm she thought it could even burn her if she left her fingers inside for too long. She heard him growl in pain and yet this time, she thought it sounded almost more like the humming he had been doing instead of a warning. Maybe he really was out of it. He'd been tortured for hours and the only sounds in the room had been his bones popping as his body tried endlessly to transform. Maybe this was his way of trying to ignore it. That or he'd well and truly lost his mind. Nicole really wanted to believe the former though.

What song was about Blackbirds though? What if she knew it? Could humming along with him help? Or would singing it for him help him to stay stable. Thankfully these thoughts had been momentarily enough to distract her from the fact that she was nearly halfway down the length of the gash in his stomach. Green and brown plants and blood spilled from his insides onto the floor as she dragged her finger through it. The wound was a little less deep than she had originally thought but still, strung up like this for an entire day? He should have died hours ago. She'd never thought that someone could survive losing all this blood but then...Thorn wasn't someone, was he?

That morning she had seen all manner of monsters and none of them looked like Thorn. He looked so human, just a little rough around the edges. As she pulled her finger from the gash the last of the plants fell with it and she turned her attention up to his shoulder and shuddered.

The faeries had ripped his stitches open and packed the bite Mark full of wolfsbane. One finger had been enough to make her gag. Could she really dig more of that stuff out of him without puking? 'Let's find out,' she closed her eyes again and sunk her fingers down into the fang shaped hole and closed them around a wad of the plants. There was that low growl again as he bared his fangs and rolled his head to the side, eyes shut tight in pain.

"I...bed I be a fuhing cowerd," he mumbled to himself, nearly incomprehensible gibberish. Nicole, however, could swear she almost knew where she'd heard words similar to that. Was he still humming that song or was he talking to her.

"You are not a coward," she sniffed, trying to keep the tears inside. She was almost done, she could do this. "I WILL do this," she assured herself out loud as she sunk her fingers back in and clutched the last of the wolfsbane and pulled it from his shoulder.

"Use the knife and cut him down, we'll catch him," Val said as she and Hazel moved to either side of Thorn's dangling legs. They each took one of his legs in their arms and waited as Nikki fished out her knife and one by one she slashed the ropes around his wrists before he fell into their arms. Nikki climbed down from the chair and slung one of Thorn's arms around her shoulder and turned to face the way they had come. She started funneling her magic through her open palm on his back to try and keep him stable and calm him, at least enough to try and keep his body from trying to transform anymore.

"Wait didn't you guys come here to get back a necklace or something?" Hazel asked. "There's no one around shouldn't we grab it?"

"Fuck the necklace Thorn needs to get to a hospital," Nikki spat out. She was shaking now, supporting his weight as best as she could. All she wanted was for him to be okay, the last thing on her mind was their deal or the stupid amulet. But as she took a step forward her knee buckled and she dropped to one knee with Thorn in tow. When she did, though, she felt something in his pocket push into her ribs sharply and she gasped.

His cell phone was in his car, his keys were in her pocket. “What the hell is that," she asked sharply as Val helped her back up, slinging his other arm over her shoulder. She reached into his pocket and her fingers closed around something, a large oval shape on a chain and her mind began to race. She pulled it from his pocket and the three of them looked to it in surprise. Her eyes shot back up to Thorn's pained face, watching him breathing for a moment before putting the necklace back down into her pocket. "Come on we need to go," she said breathlessly. He'd found it. He'd been able to swipe it before getting caught and no one had noticed. No wonder there was no one guarding him or waiting for them to come back. They didn't know the amulet was taken.

The three girls began walking him through the hallways back toward the door, Hazel behind them to cover them if someone came up behind them. As Val and Nikki rounded a corner though a large green hand shot out from the darkness of the corridor to their right and grabbed at Nicole's throat. She dropped Thorn and his sudden weight sent Val to a knee to keep him from hitting the ground. Hazel was about to turn to see what had grabbed her when an arrow soared past her head and stuck into the wall. A knight was coming up the corridor they had been running down and Hazel was forced to parry a swipe from his sword before she could see what had grabbed Nicole.

"Nikki!" Val yelled in shock as she tried to lay Thorn gently against the wall. He'd seemed to have passed out, not that he'd have been much help in the coming fight anyway, and Val drew her sword. However, before being able to assist Nikki she found herself clashing with a knight coming from the hall they were about to head down.

Were these just local guards or had this really all been a trap set for them. "I knew I'd seen those eyes before," she heard a low grumble as she was lifted off her feet, a large and grimy green hand around her throat. She was turned in his grasp to find a pair of glowing golden eyes looking back at her. "Just needed to see them full of fear to remember where from," he smirked.

The troll from the revel and, now she was positive if it, from her house as well. She squirmed in his grasp, gasping for air as he choked her. "I'd had other ideas about making you squirm but this will do," his wicked smile spread across his lips as his grip tightened. Forget choking her to death, if he kept squeezing her neck would break first. Nikki tried to look around but couldn't turn her head enough to see that Val and Hazel were in no position to help her. The edges of her vision began to turn black as her brain begged for oxygen. Just enough to get one thought. Just one clear thought might be able to get out of this. What was it though? There was something. She knew what she had to do. She'd been taught only hours before to do something that could get her out of this but what was it.

Her hands began to scramble and pat at her pockets, she knew she had something on her person to help but what was it? Her hands patted down on Thorn's car keys and her eyes lit up. That was it right? She shoved her hand down into the pocket and threaded the keys between her fingers. As quick as she could she ripped them up from her jacket and slammed her clenched fist into the Trolls forearm, the keys pointing through her fingertips and jabbing into the meat of his wrist. It wasn't much in the way of damage, but it was enough to startle him and drop her. She fell to her feet, knees buckling as she fell sideways into the wall. She took as many deep breaths as she could afford to before staggering backward from the hulking beast.

'Keys?' she thought to herself before she shook her head. She hadn't meant to grab those. She jammed them back into her pocket and fished for the glass knife Val had given her. Once she'd found it she stood up straight and pulled it out and planted her feet as the girls had taught her too. The Troll just laughed.

"Crafty little thing," he sneered before advancing on her again. The only thing that let her keep her head was that he drew no weapon. He grabbed for her again and she ducked away from his hand. She did not account for her horns, however, and his forearm caught them. Her head snapped to the side and she fell over again. However, she did not feel another blow come while she was down. Instead, she heard the Troll grunt in mild pain and annoyance as he reeled back from her. She felt a hot greenish-black liquid begin to drip down her face and into her left eye. She wiped it away and her hand came away nearly black with blood.

The barbs on her antler-like horns had clearly caught him by surprise but when she looked back up at him she was surprised by how much pain he seemed to be in. They weren't that big? He had gashes all down his arm and his green skin was puking up white puss as he clenched at his elbow. "What...what is this?!" He cried in pain as he fell backward into a wall. "What are you?!" He shouted at her, taking her by surprise.

A wry smile pulled across her lips as she said the only answer that came to mind. "A monster," she grinned before lunging forward and jabbed her knife into the meat of his throat. A low gurgle came up from his throat as black blood began to trickle over her arms and she was surprised to find him still clinging to life.

"Slice his throat open!" Val yelled over the clash of blades and Nikki did as she was told. She pulled the knife across his throat from one side to the other until finally, the Troll went limp and the light left his gleaming golden eyes. "Now grab Thorn we need to move!" She heard again but this time she froze. Her arms and clothes were covered in black thick blood and she couldn't quite look away yet. It felt good to fight back but this was different. Not being helpless was one thing but now she couldn't call herself helpless. Instead, she found the word 'murderer' floating around in her head. "Nicole!" She heard again and this time she turned around and found Val's hand grabbing for her own.

She looked down to find the Knight Val had been fighting in a pool of his own blood on the floor. "We need to go, come on!" She yelled again, squeezing Nikki's hand. They bent down and lifted Thorn back onto their shoulders and headed toward the exit, Hazel staying behind them incase more guards showed up.

No more came however and in another few moments they were out in the snow. "Where are we going?" Nikki managed to ask.

"Thorn's car," Val answered. "We took a cab."

"His...his cars fucked. He said something about a belt snapping," Nikki tried to explain.

"Fuck. Hazel call a tow truck okay?"

"You're gonna have a human come out here to die with us?" Hazel retorted as she ripped her phone from a pocket within her chest piece and began to Google a number she could call.

"You got a better idea? If they get here quick we'll be gone before they notice he's escaped. Nikki can glamour the driver and have him take us to the hospital."

After that, it all seemed to happen so fast. Almost everything Val and Hazel said seemed to blow right through Nikki. All she could do was watch Thorn's expression as they loaded him into the backseat of his car on the top of the tow truck. Val and Hazel rode upfront with the driver to keep him busy after Nicole had done as they'd asked and glamoured him.

She hadn't done a very good job but the task seemed to get through to him in the end. She sat against the window of the back seat of his car with his head in her lap. The rest of their spare clothes were tied around his shoulder and stomach wounds and she'd lain his blanket over his legs and chest even though she knew he didn't need the heat. Shed found his phone too and was thankful it didn't seem to have a password on it. She'd laughed a little at that, remembering again how unprotected a person he seemed to be the first time they'd met.

As soon as they'd settled she began to scroll through his music to try and find the song that she thought he'd been humming to himself. She swore he'd played it over the radio a few times over the past few days. Something about blackbirds and...something. She glanced up to think for a moment and out of the window she watched as they merged onto the highway and a sign passed over their heads advertising local restaurants. "Highway signs," she said softly and almost immediately Thorn began to stir in her lap, trying to get more comfortable.

That was it, she scrolled through his phone and found the artist, looking through their tracks looking for it. Once she'd pressed play it all came back to her. She knew this song. Once upon a time, she'd listened to The Wonder Years but they had faded from her daily listening years ago.

As she began to sing along with the lyrics softly he did, in fact, seem to calm down and the pained expression began to slowly work its way out if his features. His eyes relaxed and he began to breathe much more deeply than before and she placed her hand on his heart, feeling his heartbeat slow.

"Two Black Birds on a highway sign," she sang as best she could. She was never one to sing in front of people but they were alone, and he was, mostly, unconscious. Who did she need to impress? If it helped Thorn relax and feel better then she figured she owed him that much at the very least. She stroked her fingers down his cheeks and did her best to keep from crying at her thoughts. She'd left him behind and it was her fault that he was like this. Not to mention she needed to come to grips with the black blood on her fingers and hands of the fae she had murdered. A tear ran down her cheek and splashed onto his and she wiped it off as she continued to sing. "They're laughing at me at four in the morning...they play the war drums oooouuuuut of tiiimee," she wept and shut her eyes, letting her head lean back on the glass. Though after a moment she felt a hand grab one of her own.

Her vision shifted down to Thorn, who's eyes were squinted up at her, confusion on his face. "Anya?" He sighed softly before his hand went limp and so did his face. The tears fell faster now as she squeezed his hand back and lifted it to her lips. She didn't care if he thought she was herself or anybody else. If he thought she was his ex then she would take it right now. Anything was better than him dying like this.

"We're almost there," she sobbed into his hand as she spread his hand out on her cheek.

For the first time since she'd met him though, his touch on her skin was as cold as stone.


	11. Chapter Ten

Two blackbirds on a highway sign  
Are laughing at me at four in the morning  
They played the war drum out of time  
So I'm not sure where I've been marching  
I wanna be strong  
But it's not easy anymore

-The Wonder Years, The Devil in my Bloodstream

Chapter Ten

"No!" She shouted as her eyes shot open and she jolted upright. Her breath was heavy and her heart was racing again. Another nightmare. She'd hoped they'd stopped after a few days without having one but she knew that was naive to hope for. The days had dragged by as she'd worked her way through everything she thought she needed to do and she was pretty sure she was all caught up. There was just one thing left to wait for and it made the minutes crawl by as slow as possible.

When they'd reached the hospital she'd had to glamour herself to look human using the necklace. The doctor had cleaned and stitched Thorn up as best as they could and he'd spent an entire day there but he hadn't woken up. Val and Hazel took his car to a local shop and had it fixed so they could all get home. Val had driven and Nicole had spent another agonizing day in the back seat choking on fumes with Thorn's unconscious body draped in her lap. The doctors had suggested they stay of course but Nicole had glamoured them to let them go and forget that they were ever there, to begin with. After they'd hit New York Val and Hazel had stayed behind and Nikki had had to drive the rest of the way home. That wouldn't have been a tall order if she'd actually had any idea how to drive. Thankfully Thorn's car was automatic and Val had tried her best to teach her what to do before they'd left. She'd stayed in the right lane for the entire three hours on the highway and only had to pull over to puke once when an eighteen-wheeler decided she was going to slow for his liking and passed her.

Back at home, she'd had to explain to the police, who had been looking for her for at least three days since they'd found her parent's bodies in the house, where she had been and she'd had to convince them that she didn't kill them herself. This wouldn't have been such an issue if she could still lie. She'd told them that she and Thorn went camping in Maine and he'd suffered from a wild wolf attack. Not a lie. Just not the whole truth. She'd told them that she didn't know anybody alive who'd have wanted them dead which again, was technically true. She didn't know the names of the court faeries and she'd killed one of the trolls that had done the job.

She had of course taken Thorn home first before calling them and sorting all of this out and still he hadn't woken up. She'd been worried sick about if he would wake up alone while she was dealing with her bullshit, rather than worrying about her own problems. When she returned to his apartment though she’d found him asleep just as she had left him and began sifting through her thoughts while sitting on his bed with him, watching him sleep. The color had been returning to his face as night fell and she was hopeful that he would wake soon, but after the tiring day...week really, that she'd had she’d gone out to the living room and passed out on the couch.

Nikki wasn't sure that he'd have liked it if he woke up and found her sleeping in his bed with him. The last time she'd suggested that he didn't seem too keen to let it happen. Now though she stood from the couch and headed for the bathroom. She needed a shower badly for days now but she hadn't had the time or place to take one. She cranked the hot water and stepped in before she began to wash up. She had thankfully been able to wash her hands and face at the hospital so no one other than the glamoured doctor had seen her covered in blood, but every other part of her body had been encased in glamour to keep from wreaking of sweat and blood.

She tore the glamour from her skin and this time, she was able to make it disappear into the air instead of letting it pool and collect in the drain. In doing so she found blood in far more places than she remembered having touched Thorn or indeed the troll with and she washed them up as best she could. When she was finally satisfied and felt like some of the guilt and shame had been purged from her skin she got out and dried off.

She'd stopped at home on her way back from the police station and grabbed a few outfits, not knowing how long she would need to stay here to keep an eye on Thorn. She pulled on a hoodie without bothering for a shirt and a pair of underwear followed by leggings. She couldn't very well leave him here alone after all. She didn't know if he had anybody that could come take care of him either since he had been so reluctant to tell her anything about himself.

Once dressed she returned to the bedroom to check on him and found him in just the same position she'd left him, on his back under the blanket that she had tried her very best to get the blood out of. She'd stripped him down too before tucking him in. His clothes were completely ruined and rather than try to clean them she'd tossed them in the dumpster outside the building in their own trash bag. Hopefully, none of his neighbors had seen that. Some random girl coming and going from his apartment was bad enough, never mind that she had dragged him up the stairs on her own when they'd gotten home.

She sat down on his bed and lifted his head for a moment, slipping the pillow out from under it so she could lay him down into her lap again. "I know how it feels to beeee," she began. "At war with a world that never loved meeee," she sang softly. She'd sang the song so many times to him in the car on the way back and also, to herself to try and keep calm while driving for the first time. She knew it all by heart now and every time she sang it to him he'd seemed more at peace.

She reached down and took his hand in hers and threaded their fingers together and she began to stroke the back of his palm with her thumb. "Two Black Birds on a hiiiiighway sign, they're laughing at me at-"

"Hmmm hm hmm hmmmmmm hmm," she heard from below her and stopped, looking down to find Thorn stretching a little. "Hmmm?" He hummed questioningly as she stared down at him in stunned silence. His eyes cracked open and he squinted up at her just as he had done in the car. This time however he looked far more awake and alert. "Nikki?" He asked and she saw him look around the room before his hand left her and went to the bed so he could try to sit himself up. Hearing her name this time rather than the disappointment of him calling out for his ex was such a surprise and relief that she almost jumped. He cringed in pain though and sucked in a sharp breath before he felt her fingers on his shoulders pushing him back down.

"Hey stop stop," she let out quietly, "don't move okay just...lie back," she comforted as his head softly returned to her lap. "It's okay...everything's okay," she smiled down to him. She had to bring her sleeve to her eyes to prevent herself from crying on him anymore than she already had in the past few days.

"What happened? Why are we in my bedroom?" He looked back up into her eyes.

"You...you did it," she answered as she reached over to his bedside table and retrieved the necklace to show him. "You got it."

"I mean after that," he smirked. "But thanks for the recognition."

"After that you...it's...a bit of a long story," she shrugged her shoulders.

"I told you not to look back…" he said quietly. "Told you to run…"

"Yeah well...you're lucky I didn't huh?" She smiled softly and returned her hand to his.

"I owe you, Nikki...I owe you a debt I cannot soon repay…" he began before she brought her index finger to his lips to shoosh him.

"Not everybody lives their lives collecting debts Thorn…" she replied before running her finger across his cheek. "I'm just happy that you're okay…"

"Are you...okay?" He asked slowly.

"I think I will be...it's...just gonna take some time. I did things that I'm not...really sure how to deal with…" she admitted as she wrapped her arms around her own shoulders and looked away from him.

"Well if you need someone to talk to about it...you can tell me," he said as he squeezed her hip.

"Maybe...another time," she put on a fake smile and returned her attention to him. "Would it be okay if I uhmm...if I stayed here a while though...I don't want you to be alone and I...am kind of...afraid of being alone...and I don't wanna go back home…" she admitted at last. She didn't want to set foot in that house any more than she needed to.

"Guest room is all yours," he said easily. "You can stay."

"I might sell the house," she thought out loud. "It's too big and...empt-" she began before being cut off.

"Nikki you can stay," he said again. "First month's rent is on me okay?" He smirked and she couldn't help but blush as a genuine smile spread across her lips.

"Thank you...Thorn," she said as she took his hand again.

He sat in silence for a moment before he scrunched up his face, "so weird," he shook his head as if brushing the thought away.

"What is?" She blinked.

"Can't shake this feeling like I've been hanging out with Val," he shivered and Nikki couldn't help but laugh. "What?" He asked as she couldn't help but keep laughing.

"Oooh man…" she tried to calm down enough to speak. "You should definitely call her. Y'all got a lot of shit to talk about," she continued to laugh.

"What? Did I see her?" He asked before she pressed her lips to his palm, drinking in the warmth that had thankfully returned to his skin.

"Tomorrow...okay? I'll tell you everything tomorrow just...rest...please," she breathed into his skin.

"I mean I gotta get up and make dinner I'm starving. When's the last time I ate?"

"Pppfffffff," she sighed through her lips and thought," threeeeeeeee fourish days ago?" She smirked. "You name it and I'll bring it," she smiled before he opened his mouth and she spoke again before he had the chance. "And if you say cheeseburgers I'm going to smother you with a pillow."

He closed his mouth again and snorted a short laugh. "Generous of you to use the pillow," he smirked up at her and lifted his eyebrows up and down a few times.

"Well I could find something else if you don't want the pillow," she cooed as she leaned down and let her lips hover just above his, her platinum hair falling from her shoulders and framing his face.

"Haha," he began to laugh before he started coughing and laughing at the same time. "Okay come on no teasing the injured guy," he managed to get out before she righted herself and laughed with him. After a moment she eased herself out from under him and replaced the pillow before standing. "There's some soup cans in the cupboard unless you ate them already."

"Only two of them," he shrugged. "There's more," she smiled and headed for the door. "Coming right up." Before she could go though she heard him speak one more time.

"Nik," he said softly and she turned back to see him once again trying to sit up. This time he succeeded with much laboring. "I'm sorry for…" he struggled to find the words and she crossed the room back to the bed and pressed her lips to his forehead. She'd wanted to kiss him and feel him kiss her back like he had during their fire lit night in the cabin but she was still worried deep down that she had stolen those kisses from a drunk and enchanted boy.

That was the first she'd thought of it until that moment and she pulled her lips away as her vision darted down to his finger. "Shit," she cursed herself for not noticing.

"What?" He asked as he looked himself over.

"Your ring I...I didn't notice it was gone. They must have taken it off of you when they had you tied up."

"Yeah they did," he shrugged. "So? I think we made up for losing a simple enchanted ring."

"That's not why...that's not why I'm afraid," she said as she folded her arms under her bust and turned away from him.

"Afraid? Of what?"

"Afraid that this entire conversation has been...with another boy I've enchanted to like me…" she said softly before she felt his hand on hers. He pulled her around and she found him looking up at her with a serious expression on his face. 'Here it comes,' she thought to herself and shut her eyes, expecting to be yelled at for making him realize he was under a spell. Instead, she was surprised to find him gently pull her to him and as he wrapped his arms around her. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her back.

"I wasn't enchanted in the cabin and I'm not enchanted now...okay?"

"You...you remember that?" She blushed as she held him tighter so he couldn't pull away and see her face light up.

"I remember every second of it," he chuckled. "I don't regret it…I may not be the best...candidate for a boyfriend right now but...I'll work on it and when I'm ready...you will be the first to know. Alright?"

"I know all your secrets now wolf boy," she pulled back from him and turned away, shaking her hips for him to see. "You won't last a week," she smirked over her shoulder and found him smiling.

"I mean the current record is what...three days?" He laughed with her. "so you're probably not wrong." She turned back and bit her lip, looking over his bare chest before she spun on her heels and headed for the door.

"Well, I can't tease you on an empty stomach now can I?" She mused and left him alone, shutting the door behind her as she leaned back into it for a moment and smiled. "You will be mine wolf boy," she let out as her teeth returned to her bottom lip.

"I heard that," she heard, muffled through the door followed by laughter.

"You better have," she shouted back before standing up straight and smacking her right hand against her butt before heading to the kitchen to get started on his food.

To be Continued


	12. Epilogue

Thought I ran into you down on the street

Then it turned out to only be a dream

I made a point to burn all of the photographs

She went away and then I took a different path

I remember the face

But I can't recall the name

Now I wonder how whatsername has been

Green Day, Whatsername

  
  


Epilogue

Her head was swimming with faerie wine when she finally woke up. She wasn't sure how long she'd slept, or even if she had at all. She hadn't dreamed at all and she'd felt as though she could never get comfortable through the whole morning.  Her eyes creaked open slowly, their pink hues adjusting to the light of late morning rather slowly. She felt sick. How long had the revel gone last night? She'd been invited by some Faeries that she had only just met that afternoon in town. Turned out that they really knew how to throw a raging revel. As she looked around she realized why she'd slept so poorly. 

Her limbs were tangled with several other faeries' and she could hardly remember how she'd fallen asleep in the pile of bodies. She'd been drunk of course. Drunker than she had been in years. She generally stayed away from faerie wine for the duration of her life in Ironside so now that she had let herself drink some she had gone so completely overboard that she'd blacked out.  She couldn't remember anything. She felt tight all over too, even though she was fairly sure she was naked. Her bright red wings were flat against her back and all of her muscles felt worn out beyond what she'd felt in nearly a decade. Even her fingers felt tight and overused. 

She figured she'd danced all night, probably until dawn. Sometimes faeries would dance for days on end, in fact, she suspected the revel would continue after more of the people in the hall had woken up. Where was she? She pushed herself up, untangling her limbs from other fae's and brought her hands to her face so she could wipe the sleep from her eyes. When she did though she felt something tug back on her right ring finger.  She thought nothing of it for a moment since it didn't provide enough resistance to stop her from reaching her face, but when she looked down to her hand after her eyes were cleaned out she stared at it with a confused glance. 

There was a red string around her finger. Through her still very drunk eyes she could see it snaking down and away from her and under several different faeries limbs, under tables and chairs and out the door of the main hall of whatever court she'd fallen asleep with last night.  Had she tied herself to somebody as a joke? Had she enchanted somebody by accident at the revel? It wouldn't be the first time. It happened a lot really. Slowly though, as her eyes grew more and more clear and her thoughts came closer and closer to focusing on what it could be, she realized what it was. 

She stood far too quickly, shooting to her feet before stumbling from the lingering dizziness of the drinks she'd guzzled. "No," she whispered as she began to try and unknot the string. It got her nowhere. No matter how much she dug her nails into it the fabric wouldn't give. She stumbled to a nearby table, still set with food and drink and silverware. She drew a serrated bread knife across the string and again, it didn't budge. Not even a slight fray.  She dropped the knife and summoned magic to her fingertips as she tried to calm her now sporadic and panicked breathing. She pressed her fingers to the string and spoke. "I release you," she said softly but yet again, the string did not budge. "Come on!" She yelled to herself before she realized she was still surrounded by sleeping folk. She looked around and saw a few begin to shift around on the floor. 

She ran for the door, forsaking the idea of finding her clothes in the mess of the hall, electing to glamour herself to appear clothed in human attire. Jean shorts and a tank top was all she needed right now, no time for shoes. She glamoured up her wings and rounded out the tips of her ears as she ran from the hall and out into the light of day, the sun was beating down thankfully and she ran through the grass away from the court.  If she ended up leading him here while she was surrounded by the fae she might get many of them killed in process when he snapped. Or worse, she could get him killed. She'd avoided him for just over a year now and she wasn't about to let this lead him right to her. 

She silently cursed herself for not packing anything. She should have been more diligent. She'd forgotten she'd even made the ring for him in the first place and was shocked that he'd kept it. She knew he had moved to a new apartment, and that he'd looked all over for her but why now?  Why would he put the ring on after all this time? And how did he know that it would lead him straight to her? She'd been sloppy when she left, she knew that, but how could she be THIS sloppy?  She'd nearly found it possible to drown her sorrows after all this time, and as soon as she had she'd woken up to this. A smack in the face, provided by her own mistakes. A spell that she had weaved and was too strong for her to break on her own, that tied her to the one person that it hurt to remember. 

She slowed down as she reached the road and began walking along with it, hand clenched over her chest. She was breathing hard and fast now. She wasn't sure what would happen if he found her like this. How much it would hurt her to see his face? Because after all, that was the problem in the first place. 

Not that her magic was dwindling when she left, not because she could hardly breathe from all the poison of the cars on the busy city streets. Not because she couldn't stand living in a cramped apartment building when she was used to be wild and free. No...it was far worse than any of that. 

It hurt so much more to be there than it did to be away from him because deep down, she was afraid. 

Afraid that if she had let herself think about it for too long, that she may have stayed and let herself wither and die just to be next to him for as long as he would live. 

Afraid to watch him die before her while she would have to continue in life without him.

Afraid because he had loved her but it was more than that.

She was afraid because she had loved him back.


End file.
